E-scooters and cycling in Dubai: permit, areas and fines

The permit, in RTA’s own words

• Eligibility: “Citizens, residents, and visitors, 16 years or older”
• Fee: free.
• Exempt: holders of a valid UAE driving licence, or an international licence from RTA’s exception countries.
• Process: RTA’s online awareness training, then a theory test of 20–30 questions within 30 minutes. Processing about an hour, delivered by email and text.
• Visitors apply selecting “Visitor” status with passport details and an active UAE mobile number.
• Digital only: “You must present your Driving Licence or e-Scooter Driving Permit to the rental company”.

That mobile-number requirement matters and RTA does not spell out its consequence: you almost certainly cannot get the permit before you arrive, and RTA does not tell you to sort a local SIM first. See SIM cards and mobile data.

One live inconsistency: RTA’s 2022 launch page publishes an exemption its current service page does not repeat — that the permit “will not be mandatory” when riding outside designated streets, “such as bicycle paths or on sidewalks”. Meanwhile the binding resolution makes the permit unconditional and separately bans riding on pedestrian and jogging lanes outright. We publish the law and both RTA pages.

What the law requires

Executive Council Resolution No. (13) of 2022 Regulating the Use of Cycles in the Emirate of Dubai, issued 14 March 2022, defines a Cycle as “Pedal Cycles, Electric Bikes, Electric Scooters, and any other type of cycles determined by the RTA”, and an Electric Scooter as a vehicle “which is ridden standing up; and which has no seat”.

Article 6(3) requires a Rider’s Permit for “an Electric Scooter or any other type of Cycles determined by the RTA”. RTA has published no determination extending it to pedal cycles, and its own cycling page publishes no permit requirement. So: a permit for an e-scooter, none for a bicycle — correct, but arrived at by inference, because no authority states it affirmatively.

Article 9 prohibits e-bikes and e-scooters under 16, and requires a pedal cyclist under 12 to be accompanied by someone at least 18. Article 6 requires compliance with RTA’s safety requirements “including wearing a reflective vest and a protective helmet”, and bans riding a pedal cycle or e-bike on a road with a limit above 60 km/h.

On speed the resolution delegates the limit to RTA rather than stating one. RTA’s promotion page publishes 20 km/h as a vehicle specification; its main e-scooter page publishes no speed limit at all. A rider cannot determine the number they would be fined AED 100 for exceeding.

The published fines

Worth noticing: the no-permit fine is lower than dangerous riding or riding on a 60 kph road. Visitors assume the permit is the big-ticket offence. It is not.

RTA publishes no e-scooter fines schedule of its own — neither of its two e-scooter pages lists a single AED amount. The only published schedule is the 2022 resolution, which predates the 2024 federal traffic law, and we found no instrument reconciling the two.

Where you may ride: three RTA lists

RTA’s main e-scooter page publishes about 27 areas, verbatim including its own spellings: “Al Khawaneej Cycle Track, Mushrif Park & Al Warqaa; Al Mamzar Cycle Track; Al Mankhool; Al Karama; Al Qusais1; Al Rigga/Murqbat CT; Business Bay CT- Water Canal; December 2nd Street CT; Downtown - MBR CT; Dubai Greens CT; Dubai Marina CT; Internet City CT; JLT; Jumeirah CT; City Walk CT; MBR Library CT; Al Shandgha Musuem CT; Muhaisnah 3; Umm Suqeim 3; Al Garhoud; Umm Hurair First; Al Safa Second; Al Barsha South Second; Al Tawar 2; Al Barsha Third; Al Tawar 4; Al Tawar 1”.

Its promotion page publishes a differently structured list that adds Al Quoz 4, Nad Al Sheba 1 and Palm Jumeirah — none of which appear on the first. And its 2022 launch page, still live, lists only ten areas. A visitor who finds the 2022 page will believe far fewer areas are permitted than actually are.

Excluded, per RTA’s December 2025 announcement and its 2022 page alike: Saih Al Salam, Al Qudra and Al Meydan cycling tracks. Note RTA’s own inconsistency there too — Meydan is excluded while Nad Al Sheba 1 is listed as permitted.

RTA does not maintain a single authoritative list, and publishes area names rather than maps or boundaries — so a rider cannot tell where AED 200 liability begins.

Bicycles, and taking either on the metro

RTA publishes 560 km of cycling tracks with a target of 1,000 km by 2030, and a 13.5 km track planned from Al Sufouh to Dubai Hills. Its e-scooter promotion page says bike and e-scooter tracks “now span 390 km” — two RTA pages, two figures, and RTA does not say whether they measure different things. Bicycles are not allowed on roads above 60 km/h, nor on jogging tracks or pedestrian lanes.

On the network, RTA publishes: “Cycling is prohibited in metro stations and pedestrian bridges. However, it is allowed to pull a bike on pedestrian bridges and carry foldable bicycles in metro.”

For e-scooters RTA publishes a specific requirements sheet: maximum 120 × 70 × 40 cm and 20 kg, foldable and without a seat, folded when entering stations, platforms or trains, using the wide gates, power off at all times on metro or tram premises, no riding in stations or footbridges, no charging, nothing wet or dirty, no modified parts, no damaged or dual batteries, and batteries compliant with international standards. Permitted at all times of operation — there is no peak-hour restriction, which is unusual and worth knowing.

The rental schemes

RTA names four approved e-scooter rental operators — and it names them differently on two of its own pages, one listing Dott among the internationals and the other listing Tier. Both are live. We do not assert the commercial explanation, because RTA has not published one.

Neither Lime nor Dott publishes an AED price for Dubai on its own website. Lime tells you rates appear in the app; Dott says fees are disclosed in your account before you unlock. Under this site’s rules that means we publish no price for either.

Two things in the operators’ own terms are worth a visitor’s attention because they sit below what Dubai law requires. Lime’s Dubai agreement is dated October 2020, predates the permit scheme entirely, mentions no RTA permit requirement at all, and sets a minimum age of 18 for electric vehicles where Dubai law sets 16. Dott’s UAE terms describe a helmet as “recommended”, where Dubai law makes it a prescribed requirement carrying an AED 200 fine — and state their own user fines in euros. A visitor reading either operator’s terms would not learn that a permit is legally required.

On bike sharing, RTA published on 9 April 2026 that Careem Bike has completed “More than 10 million cycling trips… since its launch in February 2020”, expanding “from 71 stations to 210, providing more than 2,000 bicycles and serving 49 residential communities”. RTA’s own Careem Bike promotion page returns a “No content found” error while remaining indexed.

Questions no authority answers

• What is the e-scooter speed limit? Delegated to RTA by the resolution; RTA’s main page states none.
• Which area list is current? Three live RTA lists, three answers.
• Can I get the permit before I arrive? A UAE mobile number is required, so almost certainly not — and RTA does not say so.
• How long is the permit valid? Not published.
• Where exactly does a permitted zone end? Area names, no maps, no coordinates.
• Who fines me — RTA, Dubai Police, or the app? Not published. One operator says government fines may be deducted from your payment method; the authority says nothing.
• Where may a shared scooter be parked? Improper parking is AED 200; what proper parking is, is not published.
• Do I need a permit for a bicycle? No authority states it either way. The permit regime is written for e-scooters, and that a pedal bicycle falls outside it has to be inferred from the definitions rather than read from a sentence.

Fines here are transcribed from a 2022 Dubai resolution, not legal advice. RTA publishes three different lists of where riding is permitted and no map of any of them, so this page cannot tell you where a zone ends.

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