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Traffic announcements and informationTraffic announcements and information
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How to Avoid traffic in DubaiHow to Avoid traffic in Dubai
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Use Navigation Apps or MapsUse Navigation Apps or Maps
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Mobile apps on how to avoid trafficMobile apps on how to avoid traffic
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1. S'hail1. S'hail
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2. Google Maps2. Google Maps
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3. Waze3. Waze
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4. Maps Me4. Maps Me
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5. RTA Smart Drive5. RTA Smart Drive
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6. Makani6. Makani
What’s up guys, new years eve is just around the corner, and we are discussing the topic that pops up inherently while planning the outing on new years eve, and the topic is Traffic. So let’s talk about it, but first, let’s talk about how to avoid traffic in Dubai in general
You just hate it when you wake up excited for work and you’re stuck in traffic for hours on your commute to work?
It could ruin your complete day, seriously. All your excitement and all your energy could die in the traffic, and as you reach your office or work, you’re already exhausted.
This gets worse when you are returning to your home, after an excruciating day, and the traffic makes it worse.
In this blog, we will talk about some tips to beat the traffic.
These tips are relevant for other cities in UAE too, but here, we will discuss the matter specifically for How To Avoid Traffic in Dubai
Before we dive deeper, let’s look into the announcement about 31st December 2023.
Traffic announcements and information for 31st December 2023 (New Year’s Eve of 2024) in the Dubai
Road Closures In Dubai
- Sheikh Zayed Road northbound: Closed from Al Ittihad Junction to Trade Centre Roundabout from 10 pm to 2 am. (Source: Dubai Roads and Transport Authority)
- Sheikh Zayed Road southbound: Closed from Trade Centre Roundabout to Financial Centre Road from 10 pm to 2 am. (Source: Dubai RTA)
- Happiness Street: Closed from Sheikh Zayed Road to Al Wasl Road from 8 pm to 2 am. (Source: Dubai RTA website)
- Umm Suqeim Street: Closed from Sheikh Zayed Road to 5th December Street from 8 pm to 2 am. (Source: Dubai RTA website)
- Burj Khalifa Street: Closed from Sheikh Zayed Road to Financial Centre Road from 8 pm to 2 am. (Source: Dubai RTA website)
- Financial Centre Road: Closed from Burj Khalifa Street to Sheikh Zayed Road from 8 pm to 2 am. (Source: Dubai RTA website)
- Al Asayel Street: Closed from Oud Metha Road to Sheikh Zayed Road from 8 pm to 2 am. (Source: Dubai RTA website)
- Za’abeel 2nd Street: Closed from Sheikh Zayed Road to Al Meydan Road from 8 pm to 2 am. (Source: Dubai RTA website)
Public Transport on 31st December 2023 in Dubai
- The Dubai Metro Red Line will operate continuously for 24 hours from 5 pm on December 31st to 5 pm on January 1st 2024. (Source: Dubai RTA website)
- The Dubai Metro Green Line will operate until 2 am on December 31st and resume service at 5 am on January 1st. (Source: Dubai RTA website)
- Additional buses will be deployed on key routes throughout the night. (Source: Dubai RTA website)
Great. So now,
Here are some ways to avoid traffic in Dubai.
We are going to discuss this in two sections
- Beat the traffic by being smart 😎
- Being smart about the traffic by using mobile apps 📱
1. How to Avoid traffic in Dubai by acting smart
Avoid Rush Hours (No brainer 🧠❌ but still works)
If you know that the peak traffic at your regular route is at 8 AM, it is better to either plan your journey ahead of time or post that time and use the extra hours to reach quickly and leverage these hours to maximize your productivity.
Especially if you live in Sharjah you know how it is right?
Find and Memorize Alternate Routes 😎
The government of Dubai and UAE in general is constantly upgrading the roads and constructing new roads. Use navigation apps to find new routes and try to memorize them for the bad days when your normal route is cluttered with traffic and your phone is dead or low on data.
One option to memorize new routes easily is to intentionally explore a new path and ways when you are high on energy and try to remember them for next time.
Use Public Transport (Metro/ Tram) 🚊
One of the easy ways to beat traffic is by using public transportation, seriously guys. Okay, We know what you’re thinking, “Public transport could end up taking more time”. No! They won’t. The advantage of using public transportation is that they are run on a very specific and fixed schedule. They don’t get too early nor do they get too late. Moreover, you’re saved from the stress about the parking of your car and the excruciating driving.
The most popular public transport in Dubai is Buses and Metros. This is how to avoid traffic in Dubai
You: Ok, fine I know all of these already, tell me something more exciting.
Us: Say no more! Keep reading
How to avoid traffic in Dubai on New Year's Eve? 🎇🎆🎉✨🎡
The new year is an occasion where most roads are filled with cars. You better stay prepared so that you avoid anything that could potentially kill your new year’s mood.
Pay special attention to Shaikh Zayed Road as its the most common route taken to reach different locations within the urban boundaries of Dubai
Specifically, there might be road blockage around the Downtown area, and the road leading to The Burj Khalifa as a huge crowd is excited to see the fireworks happening out there
Leave early from home and leave late from the location where you are going
Because, for everything in between, you may face dense traffic.
Try to find some distant location such as Al Khail Road from where you can witness the fireworks in a more comfortable condition. But just check if off-road parking is valid there, otherwise park at a paid parking place somewhere.
In fact, we think you can witness fireworks from anywhere if you just go at a distance 😂 because Downtown, Burj Al Arab, Palm Atlantis, Ain Dubai, Blue Waters Island, Dubai Creek, Festival City, Global Village, Expo 2020, all these locations more or less are going to have some sort of fireworks display happening.
Also, RTA Dubai has announced some very helpful services of Metro, Tram, and Buses for the locations such as EXPO 2020, Downtown, etc.
Follow the below tweets.
And if Fireworks is something that attracts you, then you may also try heading to Ras Al Khaimah, they try to put up a splendid fireworks show.
They are have made two Guinness World Records
- Most Remote Operated Multirotors/Drones Launching Fireworks Simultaneously 🎇
- Highest Altitude Multirotor/Drone Fireworks Display (A tower of fireworks 1,055.8 metres high, taller than any skyscraper in the world) 🗼
If you want to be in Dubai only, then we suggest heading to the beach and indulging in beach camping. Simple and cheaper. And a lot of empty skies to enjoy all sorts of fireworks and drone shows
Carry binoculars to compensate for the distance.
Stay cautious of routes during new year’s eve. Some roads might be closed. Please follow Khaleej Times and Gulf News for updates. The apps we discussed in this blog post: Google Maps, Waze, and RTA Smart Drive will also be helpful.
Now let’s talk about how to use technology in a smart way to avoid traffic in Dubai
2. Use Navigation Apps or Maps to avoid traffic
Maybe, you have memories of the different routes of the city.
You follow a particular path every day and change it once in a while. The thing is, the navigation apps work with technology-based on GPS and let you know about the traffic status before you take on that route.
You can get Estimates time of reaching (ETA) and accordingly optimize your commute. You will be aware of the journey, and the traffic by the color of the navigation routes, particularly in Google Maps, you get blue navigation when the traffic is normal, yellow when the traffic is moderate, and red when you have heavy traffic ahead.
5 Mobile apps on how to avoid traffic in Dubai
Here is the list of the recommended apps to use while you driving in Dubai.
S'hail
Now as we are talking about the navigation apps in Dubai, let’s start with S’hail.
S’hail App makes your traveling smooth. You get updates about the public transport routes, along with different modes of transportation.
S’hail App can help you with transportation in Metro, Marine, Buses, Tram, Taxis, cycling, and e-hailing.
We recommend you log in to the app using your RTA account to access all the features. There is a guest login option available for those who don’t have an RTA account but the features are limited.
Google Maps
Google maps is the juggernaut when it comes to navigation apps
It is also the most common navigation application used in Dubai
Google maps provide you with different routes for your destination with the estimated time to reach.
You can also compare the different times taken at different routes
It also provides you real time traffic updates and indicators if any road is blocked due to maintenance
So by using these three features (if not all) you can try to plan your outing. You can decide on better route and timing to reach your destination.
Pro Tip 1: When you search for any directions, Google Maps will show you the best possible route along with other routes you can take.
The best possible route is based on the time taken to reach your destination and not based on the distance between the source and the destination.
So for example, a route may look longer, but due to less traffic on that route, you may reach earlier than the route which appears shorter, but has more traffic etc.
So in a nutshell, in most cases just follow the route which Google is suggesting
Google has lots of data that they collect everyday from app usage and from authorities and other third party service providers to elevate the overall experience of the app
Pro Tip 2:
When you are searching for the best route for your destination, pay attention to the ‘Time‘ tab.
Google by default calculates the Estimated time to reach considering that you are going to leave immediately.
So if you want to leave at any other time, change the time of leaving and you may get different suggestion
Waze
Waze is a navigation app that lets you know about the traffic, construction sites in the route, and the crashes.
If the Waze app detects that there is too much traffic on your path, it will navigate you towards a different route with less traffic.
Maps Me
This app is great for offline navigation. When you are low on data, you can try this one
It stores the routes and helps you navigate without consuming your data. So it is recommended you update the maps when you have a proper internet connection.
The app also includes direction to point of interest (POI), hiking trails and places missing from other maps
RTA Smart Drive
RTA Smart Drive app is provided by Dubai Roads and Transport Authority.
This app aims to provide fast, easy, and simple navigation for the users and residents of Dubai.
It provides clear voice and visual instructions along with other features that help in beating the traffic like automatic rerouting and speed limit alerts.
Makani
Makani App runs on Dubai’s satellite location and navigation system. It is an attempt to record every place and location in Dubai. Makani app is also a good option to help you in navigating. But most Dubai users use either Google Maps or Waze
Note: if you use an iPhone, you would most probably use the default application, but it is worth mentioning that some of the functions and features of the Apple Maps have been restricted by the UAE.
So this was it from our side for now.
Do you have any other tips for beating the traffic in Dubai, then let us know in the comments
If you are in JBR or Dubai Marina & planning to celebrate New Year’s Eve at #Expo2020, use #DubaiTram to reach the exhibition site to one of the Interchange Stations via #DubaiMetro & depart via the metro towards Expo 2020 Station to reach your destination. #MyDubaiNewYear pic.twitter.com/oH54byHp3W
— RTA (@rta_dubai) December 30, 2021
If you are in JBR or Dubai Marina & planning to celebrate New Year’s Eve at #Expo2020, use #DubaiTram to reach the exhibition site to one of the Interchange Stations via #DubaiMetro & depart via the metro towards Expo 2020 Station to reach your destination. #MyDubaiNewYear pic.twitter.com/oH54byHp3W
— RTA (@rta_dubai) December 30, 2021
