Dubai for People of Determination: the published provisions

Transport

RTA states it plainly: “People of determination travel free-of-charge on Dubai buses and metro using nol blue card”, and elsewhere that holders “can transport for free using solely Dubai Metro and Public Buses in Dubai City”. Intercity buses are covered too: “The intercity buses service is available for free only for People of Determination, holders of personal nol cards”.

Note the word “solely”. RTA names metro and buses. It does not publish free travel on the Dubai Tram, and the free-travel statement does not extend to water transport — its own page describes the nol purse being used to pay for water bus trips. Free tram travel is widely claimed elsewhere; we found no RTA source for it.

AED 70 is the price of the standard personal nol card, which suggests the figure was copied across. But we cannot resolve it from published text, so both are here with both sources. A third RTA page describes the personal card and does not mention free travel at all. One detail buried in the same material and rarely mentioned anywhere: the card lasts five years, but the concession is valid for one year and must be renewed.

The accessible taxi, and the fare that is not the fare

Two things the tariff table alone will not tell you. First, there is a 50% discount on top of these figures, and it requires the Sanad card: RTA states “Passengers must present Sanad card to claim the 50% discount benefit”. Second, the AED 8 is a flag-fall, not a floor — the minimum you will pay is AED 12, or AED 13 if you book through an app. Quoting AED 8 without the minimum misleads.

Vehicles come “With or without wheelchair lift (depending on customer request)”, and booking is through the 24/7 call centre on 800 880 88, by app, by street hail or at the airport ranks. One published figure we would treat with caution: RTA states Dubai Taxi “operates five specialized taxis 24/7”. Five vehicles for a city this size reads as a sentence nobody has revisited.

The Sanad card, including the tourist version

Nearly every concession above runs through this one card, issued by the Community Development Authority “for people with disabilities to ensure they have access to privileges and services meeting their needs”. The point most visitors miss: there is a tourist version — RTA calls it the “Sanad Tourist card issued by the Community Development Authority” — so the concessions are not residents-only. Both RTA and Dubai Taxi state it takes two to three working days to obtain, which means applying after you land is applying too late for a short trip.

What we cannot tell you, and will not guess at: the card’s cost, eligibility criteria, validity period or required documents. The issuing authority’s entire website was unreachable to us. It is widely described online as free; we could not confirm that from the issuer and are not going to state it. This is the single most important document in the subject and it is the one we could not read.

Attractions: three publish a policy, the rest publish nothing

Do not generalise “a companion goes free in Dubai” — it is two at one venue, one at two others, and unpublished everywhere else. Dubai Frame is the most complete policy any Dubai attraction publishes: complimentary wheelchairs on request, reserved parking, integrated restrooms, accessible service counters and trained staff. It also holds a world record for the longest Braille handrail. Note its eligibility wording carefully: it requires a card “issued by the UAE government”, so a foreign disability card is not stated to qualify.

Dubai Miracle Garden deserves a mention for the wrong reason. Its FAQ asks whether entry is free for People of Determination and whether the garden is wheelchair accessible — and the answers sit inside a JavaScript accordion that never renders as text. On this subject above all others, that is a finding in itself.

Jumeirah Beach 2, and the rest of the coastline

One Dubai beach has a published accessibility specification, and it is a genuinely impressive one. Jumeirah Beach 2 was awarded Gold certification by the World Disability Union on 29 June 2026. Dubai Municipality publishes the facility list: dedicated parking, accessible pathways and ramps, accessible toilets and showers, wheelchair charging stations, golf-cart transport, an inclusive playground, complimentary beach chairs and umbrellas, a dedicated swimming platform, floating wheelchairs for getting into the sea, and the Middle East’s first beach sensory room for visitors with autism.

For every other Dubai beach, nothing is published. The Municipality’s own People of Determination page names no accessible beach at all. Jumeirah Beach 2 is described as Dubai’s first Gold-certified accessible beach, which corroborates that the others have no equivalent published provision. What is published about public beaches generally is here.

Parking, the airport, and the rules that are law

• Parking is free, and the permit is too: RTA runs “Parking Permits for People of Determination and Senior Emiratis” and states it is “free of charge”. Salik is exempt for one vehicle, renewed annually. The fine for misusing a reserved bay is published by nobody — not RTA, not the parking operator, not Dubai Police. The figure you will find quoted everywhere has no official source, so our parking page carries the two fine schedules that are published and not that one.
• Airport assistance needs 48 hours’ notice, requested through your airline rather than the airport: “At least 48 hours before travel”, sharing details of “any impairments or mobility difficulties, including if a personal mobility device or assistance animal will be used”. Dubai Airports never states that assistance is free — and “is it free” is among the most searched questions about it. We are not going to answer it for them.
• The law is Dubai Law No. (3) of 2022 on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, not the 2006 federal law the press usually cites. It defines accessibility as “Making buildings, roads, transport facilities, and other public or private places that are open to the public; information; and digital platforms accessible”, and requires entities to “comply with the Inclusive Design standards”. Note that the legislation itself uses “Persons with Disabilities”: “People of Determination” is the official public-facing term, not the statutory one, so searching the law for it finds nothing.
• New buildings are covered by the Dubai Universal Design Code, enforced through the “Wosool” seal on building permits, which Dubai Municipality calls “a prerequisite for approval”. The code’s own page carries no edition, version or issue date — which for a document governing legal compliance is a real problem.

Claims with no official source

Every one of these is widely repeated and none of them is published by any authority we could reach. We are listing them because being told a provision exists and finding it does not, on arrival, is worse than not being told:

• Free travel on the Dubai Tram. RTA names metro and buses, once with the word “solely”.
• The fine for parking in a reserved bay. No figure is published anywhere.
• That the Sanad card is free. Unconfirmable — the issuer’s site is unreachable.
• That DXB assistance is free. Dubai Airports does not say so.
• A sunflower lanyard scheme at DXB. A hidden-disabilities service exists; no lanyard programme is described on it.
• That foreign disability cards are accepted. Dubai Frame requires a UAE government card; RTA requires a Sanad or tourist Sanad card.

A note on the official estate itself. The federal portal’s page on accessible transport and parking returns 404 and is still indexed. RTA’s legacy page on the subject renders a portal error. RTA still cites “Law No. 1/2008” for parking permits, superseded by the 2022 law. The taxi service is still served at a URL using terminology the UAE officially retired in 2017. And the parking operator publishes its permit and penalty information in a form that text-based and assistive clients cannot read at all — on this subject, that is not a small thing.

More in Before you travel

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• Hotel fees & taxes
• Seasonal closures

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