Taxis and rideshare
Metered taxis are the default and are inexpensive compared with any European or American city. They are everywhere, and hotels will call one in a minute.
Careem is the local rideshare app and the one most residents use. Uber operates as well and prices similarly.
Traffic on Sheikh Zayed Road is genuinely bad at peak. A trip that takes fifteen minutes at eleven at night takes forty at six in the evening. Plan around it.
During conference week the roads around Madinat Jumeirah and Umm Suqeim get congested at the start and end of each day. Leaving twenty minutes early is the whole trick.
The Metro
Two main lines, Red and Green, clean, air conditioned and driverless. The Red Line follows Sheikh Zayed Road through the main business districts.
Buy a Nol card at any station and tap in and out. It also works on buses and the tram.
There are women and children only carriages, and a Gold class carriage at the front. Both are marked on the platform.
Mall of the Emirates is the nearest useful station to the venue, and it is still a taxi from there.
Walking, and why you will not
Late April is hot. Distances that look walkable on a map are not walkable at midday in that heat, and the pavements are not always continuous.
The exceptions are the marina promenade, JBR beach and the Madinat waterways, all of which are pleasant in the evening.
Everything indoors is air conditioned to the point of cold. Carry a layer for the venue, not for outside.
The venue is spread across a resort with indoor and outdoor space. Wear something you can walk twenty minutes in and still shake hands in.
