Public transport in Qatar and low-cost sightseeing

The glamorous country of Qatar, on the other side of the Persian Gulf, is a complete package of all kinds of historical, cultural, and natural attractions, shopping centers, luxury restaurants, and exciting entertainment. In addition, Qatar’s openness in welcoming tourists and providing them with suitable services doubles the pleasure of traveling to Qatar. Of course, public transportation in Qatar makes travel cheaper.

There are many means of transportation in this country to visit the sights of Qatar, From luxury limousines to taxis, subways, and buses. These days, when the travel market to Qatar to watch the 2022 World Cup is hot, the public transportation system in Qatar has been strengthened more than before.

Suppose you are planning to go to Qatar. In that case, it is better to familiarize yourself with the transportation system there before doing anything to have a more hassle-free and comfortable commute in Qatar. So stay with Nabtrip Tourism magazine in this guide so that we know all the options for moving to Qatar.

How is public transportation in Qatar?

Qatar is one of the hottest countries in Asia, and this hot weather has made citizens not have time to walk and prefer to drive their cars. Although the capacity and conditions of the roads in Qatar are pretty suitable for driving, if all people are to use private vehicles for transportation, extensive traffic will form in the city, which is not an exciting effect for a tourist country.

I suggest commuting in Qatar using a cost-effective, efficient, fast alternative: public transportation. Especially now that this country is in the fever of the World Cup and has used all its capacities to improve its public transportation services.

Besides the high speed, using public transportation is also a good idea for tourists who don’t want to spend much money on their trip.

Local and intercity buses

If you want to see the streets and sights around you while commuting to Qatar, take the modern and cool Karva buses. Buses play a significant role in Qatar’s transportation system. Qatar Buses is managed under the supervision of the Transport Authority (Qatar’s national transport provider). The public blue buses that ply throughout the city are known as Karwa.

Regarding facilities, Karva buses have an air conditioning system and a space to place a wheelchair. The fare of these buses is from 2.5 to 9 Qatar Rials, depending on the distance they travel.

The work of these buses starts from 4 in the morning and continues until 11 at night. Carva bus is currently available in more than 50 routes, most of which are located in Doha, the capital of Qatar, and nearby cities such as Al-Khor, Al-Rayyan, Al-Shamal, Dukhan, and Umm Salal.

To use Karva buses and all buses under the transportation category, you must buy a Karva smart card before boarding and place the card on the card reader when you get off to pay the bus fare. There are three types of Karva cards:

Limited cards cost 10 Qatari Rials, and you can only use them twice every 24 hours.
Unlimited card: The price of this card is 20 Qatari Rials, and there is no limit to the number of times it can be used in 24 hours.
Classic card: The price of this card is 30 QR, and it can be recharged for a long time.
You can buy or top-up the Karva Smart Card at Karva bus stations across the city, Hamad International Airport, and significant and famous shopping malls such as the Mall of Qatar through Ticket Vending Machines (TVM).

In addition to the public buses in the capital of Qatar, some buses also travel between Doha and nearby cities such as Dukhan, Abu Samrah, etc. Buses that cover longer distances are more luxurious and have more facilities.

Qatar Metro, the fastest public transport in Qatar

The newest member added to Qatar’s transport network is the Qatar Metro in Doha, which started its operation in 2019 with three lines. If you can’t bear the heat of Qatar, the metro is a good option for commuting.

Qatar rail transport (metro and tram) is managed under the supervision of the state-owned company “Qatar Rail,” According to this company, a fourth line will be added to this system in the next four years.

Qatar Metro has underground and surface stations and connects parts of the capital and surrounding cities with driverless high-speed trains. The green line extends from Al-Mansoura to Al-Rifa, the gold bar from Al-Azizia to Ras Abu Abboud, and the red line from Lusail to Al-Wukrah and Terminal 1 Hamad International Airport, and these three lines meet at Musharib station.

One of the advantages of Qatar Metro is that it has stations near the famous attractions of Qatar, such as the Qatar Museum and National Library, Katara Cultural Village, and Waqif Bazaar, and you can visit Qatar’s sights easily and at the lowest cost.

Qatar has not forgotten disabled people and has provided facilities for easy transportation. Although the Qatar Metro has not been launched long and still smells new, some stations have a place for wheelchairs. This issue has made public transportation in Qatar easy for all sections of society.

To use the Doha metro, just like in Iran, you must use a metro card (paper tickets are currently not sold due to the spread of Covid-19) with the difference that there are two types of metro cards in Qatar:

Standard travel card: for average and typical use of the metro, you must use these cards, the price of which is 10 Qatar Rials.
Gold Club travel card: This card is for travelers who want to use first-class seats and better services. Naturally, the price of this type of card is higher than the standard type and is about 100 Qatar Rials.
These cards are valid for five years and can be recharged at metro ticket charging machines or the Qatar Rail app.

An exciting feature of the metro among the public transport options in Qatar in Doha is the free internet provided to you for 30 minutes a day inside the train and in the stations. Children under five years old can ride the subway for free.

Doha Metro is active from Saturday to Wednesday from 6 am to 11 pm, Thursday from 6 am to 12 pm, and Friday from 2 pm to 12 pm.

Tram or electric train

Trams or electric trains are other means of public transportation that you can explore in Qatar. Last year, the tram network was launched in Lusail, north of Doha, with 25 stations connecting to the metro station at two stations, Lusail and Laqtifiya. Currently, out of these 25 stations, only six stations are operating on the Orange Line.

A tram line has also been opened in Musharib, the center of Doha, with nine stations operating free seven days a week until 9:00 pm.

Taxi, the best choice for public transportation in Qatar

To get less into crowded environments such as buses and subways, choose blue taxis in the city for commuting.

Different taxi companies are distinguished by the color of the car’s roof; For example, the top of the taxis of “Short Tejarat Sood” is yellow, and the roof of the cabs of “Million Taxi Company” is brown. Karva Taxi offers the best services among all the Qatar taxi companies.

The well-equipped Karva taxis are state-owned and offer passengers the highest safety and quality at the lowest price. Most of the taxi companies in Qatar have mobile apps that make getting a taxi more accessible than ever.

The taxi fare in Qatar is 4 Qatari Rials; for every kilometer, 1.6 Qatari Rials are added. This amount is 1.9 Qatar Rials in the evening and outside the city. Some taxi companies, such as Karva, have unique cars for transporting disabled people.

Apart from these government taxis, there are also internet taxis for public transportation in Qatar, the two most famous of which are “Karim Taxi” and “Uber.” The minimum fare on Uber starts at 8 Rials and on Karim from 7.5 Rials. The final food will vary depending on the distance and traffic along the route.

Riding in a limousine will be an exciting experience if you are one of those luxury-loving people. In Qatar, you can rent luxury cars such as Audi, Impala, Mercedes-Benz Vito, and Passat through the Carva taxi app or call 800-(5466) and 800-(8294) and enjoy driving on the streets of Qatar.

Qatar airports

Since Qatar is a small and compact country, it has only one international airport, Hamad Airport. Qatar Airways is the most critical airline in this country, which transported about 32 million passengers in 2020 and won the award of the best airline in the Middle East for the sixth time.

Hamad International Airport is one of Qatar’s public transport options, located 20 kilometers from the center of Doha, so travelers can quickly reach their hotels.

This airport is one of the busiest international airports in the world and has convenient facilities such as exchange offices, prayer rooms, reception services, etc. Taxis, buses, subways, and limousines are outside the airport hall.

Public transport applications in Qatar

The government of Qatar has designed apps compatible with Android and IOS phones to make public transportation easier to access, making getting around the country more straightforward than you might think.

One of the most popular is the Karwa Taxi application, which will be the best and safest option to travel by taxi in the city.

This application does not have a complicated method; It is enough to choose a taxi after specifying your origin and destination and wait for the cab after paying the travel fee. In addition to Carva Taxi, Uber and Karim Taxi applications are also used for booking taxis as public transportation solutions in Qatar.

Another program that Qatar has prepared for its passengers is the Sila application. In this program, all information about Qatar’s public transportation system is at your fingertips, and you can plan your trip by bus, taxi, subway, etc.

Mowasalan Company has also designed a program for public transportation in Qatar where you can see the departure time of different vehicles and use it to buy tickets and track Karva intelligent cards.

Qatar’s public transport is environmentally friendly.

You might think that in a country like Qatar, where oil and gas extraction forms the backbone of its economy, having an environmentally friendly public transportation system is a joke.

Maybe Qatar is far from entirely environmentally friendly public transportation right now. Still, in its plan for the next ten years, it takes this approach seriously and steps towards electrifying more means of transportation.

Now that you are familiar with public transportation in Qatar, you can safely check your luggage, fly to Qatar and experience the beauty of Qatar up close.

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