With 2.8 million people in Qatar, and a further 1.5 million expected for the FIFA 2022 World Cup in November, that’s a lot of people to move around …

Transport in Doha comes in every guise and form, but without the jalopies, donkey carts, bakkies and taxis of South Africa.

I miss the latter. Yes, even the taxis! But what I miss about home is a post for another time. Right now, it’s about what you, dear reader, might expect to find in this city of skyscrapers, sun and sand when it comes to getting around.

I will not dabble in the subject of traffic yet, as that’s a jam for another post.

Right now, let’s dip into the world of wheels, wings and water carriers … 

Qatar Airways

Setting the tone for what you can generally expect of transport when visiting Doha, is the world’s number 1 airline for the fifth time, Qatar Airways. It’s only been around since 1994, but has a global network of more than 150 destinations. The airline is renowned for its cleanliness and excellent service.

Light rail

Doha has a state-of-the-art underground Metro service that was officially launched in 2019 and is an absolute pleasure to use.  It’s efficient, with trains stopping every three minutes. It is super clean and extremely reasonable – just QR2 (R8) a trip or QR6 (R24) for a full day of travel on any, or all three, of the different lines stretching across the city. (And yes, there will be follow-up blog, since the Doha Metro is both an engineering marvel and benchmark in public transport service.)

SUVs

They’re everywhere, they’re everywhere … yes, there are sport utility vehicles of every size, colour and make in Doha. But the flavour of the highways and byways of this busy city appears to be Toyota Fortunas and Land Cruisers. I will reserve judgement on the multi-purpose purpose of SUVs for transversing other terrains, other than to say that I feel safer in an SUV!

P.S. I am told that bakkies can only be owned by companies for work purposes only.

Luxury vehicles

I have never seen so many luxury vehicles in one city in all my life (and that life has been long). Every high-end brand of automobile is available here and you are likely to see any number of them on a daily basis. Rolls Royce, Bentley, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Maserati, Maybach, Range Rover and Cadillac … all top of the range cars are on display in the traffic, outside the five-star hotels or high-end shopping precincts.

Uber

Uber works well in Doha. The men who fetch and carry passengers around and about all day long, do so quickly and at a reasonable price. For example, it cost QR17 (R68) to travel about 10km in very heavy traffic. Perhaps the biggest plus of using Uber, however, especially with Doha’s streets under constant construction, is that the Uber drivers know which alternative routes to take. And that, my fellow passengers, takes all the stress out of the journey. (And will help to keep your marriage/relationships intact). I have yet to use a taxi but am told they are reliable too.

The cost of fuel – QAR 2.1 a litre or R9.18, which is less than half of what it costs in South Africa at R21 a litre – helps to keep prices down. Some people who live here only ever use Uber and the Metro to get around.

Golf carts

With its commitment to hospitality and good service, Doha delights visitors and locals with free rides on golf carts at many of the touristy spots, shopping centres and sporting events.

It only took me three visits to the Katara Cultural Village to work out that these two or four-seater vehicles driven about by uniformed men are free of charge and for our benefit. Coming from South Africa, I suppose we can be forgiven thinking there is no such thing as a free ride, except the proverbial ones.

Yes, they are free for your lazy pleasure, just like the municipal Karwa buses are free when maintenance repairs on the Metro are underway. In fact, there will be free public transport throughout the FIFA 2022 World Cup with your a Hayya card. The latter is your entry permit to the State of Qatar, to your stadium (along with your match ticket) and to free public transport.

I marvel at how well everything works. Again, it’s all about our own lived experiences – and mine has mainly been in Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth), in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, where good service delivery is often a challenge.  

Take-away team

The take-away team are those brave men (I have yet to see a woman) who weave in and out of the traffic on their motorbikes to deliver all number of things, but mainly food. Like the SUVs, they are everywhere because, as far as I can see, there’s a big take-away culture here in Doha.  

Two wheels for hire

Buses

Trams

Ancient Dhows

Another stand-out form of transport are the dhows, ancient wooden sailing boats that fill the local harbours and dot the sheltered bays by day and night. They are still in widespread use as fishing vessels and as leisure boats for locals and tourists. The latter is on my to-do list, and it’ll be an evening jaunt on a dhow to enjoy the sunset and watch the Doha skyline light up.

Leisure watercraft

As a wealthy country, you’ll find a flotilla of luxury watercraft in all the small boat harbours hugging the city’s bays, not least the marinas that have pride of place at the Pearl. A peak at the catamarans, yachts, jet skis and the like all moored here against the decadent backdrop of swanky restaurants, hotels, upmarket apartment blocks and a glistening pond-like bay, gives you a sense of being at the Florida Quays or the French Riviera.

Other transport

And then there are caravans (we missed the traditional camping and caravan season for trekking into the surrounding desert), the off-road vehicles that take tourists on sand-bashing joy rides and the camels.

I have spotted cyclists using the busy highways outside of peak traffic, but mostly I have seen families on their bicycles using the myriad of dedicated cycle tracks that transverse the city. Doha is, in fact, home to the longest continuous single dedicated cycle path in the world, at 33km long.