About GulfCommute
Simplifying public transport across the Gulf region, one route at a time.
Hi, I’m Rifat Hossain
My journey began with a simple backpack and a curiosity to explore the vibrant cities of the Gulf. From the bustling streets of major metropolises to the cultural hearts of the region, I relied heavily on public transport to get around.
I quickly realized that finding accurate, up-to-date information on bus routes and metro schedules was often a challenge. That frustration turned into my mission: researching, verifying, and organizing transport data to help fellow travelers and residents alike.
Today I also publish transport guide apps on Google Play for several Gulf cities, listed below. GulfCommute brings that work together on the web, for residents and visitors alike.
Trusted Apps
Our dedicated mobile applications for specific cities
Where our data comes from
Every route and stop page is built from one dataset per city: the list of bus routes with their stops in order, operating hours and stop locations. The pages you read, such as which buses call at a stop, where to change and the nearest Metro station, are worked out from that data rather than written by hand, so they stay consistent with each other.
For Dubai, stop locations and current Metro station names are checked against the Roads and Transport Authority's open data (its GTFS timetable feed) and, where that has no entry, OpenStreetMap. Where we can't place a stop reliably, we say so on the page instead of showing a guess.
Older route and stop descriptions are being replaced, city by city, with pages built directly from the data.
How our guides are checked
Guides and news articles answer questions people ask about getting around, such as which bus goes to a mall or what time the Metro runs on a Friday. Before an article is published, every fact in it is checked against our route data and the sources it links to.
Bus numbers, stops and where to change come from the same route data as the rest of the site, and the lists of buses on a guide are built from it, so a correction to the data fixes the guide too. Fares, opening hours, dates and new services come from the operator or a named news source, linked in the text where the fact appears.
When sources disagree, or we can't find a source, the article says so rather than guessing. That's why some guides tell you to check a timetable in the operator's app instead of giving a time.
Each article shows the date it was published and the date its facts were last updated. We change the "last updated" date only when the facts change, not for small edits.
What we can't promise
Operators change routes, stops and timetables, sometimes at short notice, and we are not told in advance. Operating hours on this site are for the whole route, not the time a bus reaches a particular stop. Before an important journey, check with the official operator:
- Dubai: Roads and Transport Authority (RTA)
- Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi Mobility (Integrated Transport Centre)
- Sharjah: Sharjah Roads and Transport Authority
- Riyadh: Riyadh Bus and Riyadh Metro
- Doha: Mowasalat (Karwa) and Qatar Rail
- Kuwait: KPTC, CityBus and KGL
Spotted a mistake?
If a bus no longer stops somewhere, a stop is in the wrong place on the map, or a route has changed, please tell us. Corrections go into the city's dataset, so they fix every page that uses it.
Use the contact form (choose "Route Information") or email [email protected]. Include the page link and what you saw.
Independent project: GulfCommute is not affiliated with any government transport authority or official operator. It is run independently by Rifat Hossain, and pages may show advertising.