A Dubai based professional has sparked an online discussion after sharing a video highlighting what he described as confusing road design in the city, where a workplace visible from across the road still requires a lengthy drive to reach.
A short distance, a long drive
Taking to Instagram, Aman Thakkar shared a clip of himself sitting inside his car while attempting to drive to work. Speaking directly to the camera, he said, "Guys one thing about Dubai, the roads just don't make sense to me. I'm about to show you where my office is, and you're gonna be surprised at how long it's actually taking me to get there."
In the video, Thakkar points towards a low rise building visible from where he is parked and adds, "That's my office, over there. That short building that says 5H on it, yeah? Look at how long it's taking me."
He then turns the camera to his car’s navigation screen, which shows a distance of 4.4 kilometres with an estimated travel time of 14 minutes. Reacting to the route, he says, "14 minutes. Look at this. Make it make sense. Make it make sense, people."
Watch the clip here:
{{/usCountry}}Watch the clip here:
{{/usCountry}}Caption questions city planning
The video was shared with a caption that further questioned the city’s infrastructure. Thakkar wrote, “Given Dubai was literally sand 50 years ago how are the roads so inefficient. Also thank god I work crazy hours so I get to avoid all the crazy rush hour traffic on Sheikh Zayed Road.”
Online reactions pour in
The clip quickly drew attention from social media users, many of whom shared their own experiences navigating Dubai’s road network.
One user commented, "Dubai’s progress speaks for itself and people get to decide where they feel most comfortable living, and those choices can even help ease traffic." Another reacted in disbelief, writing, "That’s actually crazy."
Comparisons with other regions also emerged. A viewer remarked, "This makes sense in every country except south Asia because they cross the road while cars fly past at 120." Sharing a similar incident, one person said, "It’s happened with me just in the afternoon, I said to the taxi driver that he took me from a wrong way but the maps was showing a long road."
HT.com has reached out to the user for his comments, and the copy will be updated once her response is received.
(Disclaimer: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.)