Dubai to Abu Dhabi: the published record, and the holes in it
RTA publishes no fare for the bus to Abu Dhabi. No journey time. No frequency. It publishes the route — and it calls that route C01 on its own route list and E100 on its own timetable page and in its own December 2025 news release, without reconciling them. What is published, clearly and consequentially, is Abu Dhabi’s toll: AED 4 per gate, and since 1 September 2025 the daily and monthly caps have been removed.
The bus
RTA publishes two Dubai departure points for Abu Dhabi — Al Ghubaiba Bus Station and Ibn Battuta Bus Station — arriving at “Abu Dhabi CBS”, its central bus station. The route number depends on which RTA page you are reading:
| RTA page | Route number | What else it publishes |
|---|---|---|
| Bus Route Service ListPDF, no date | C01 from Al Ghubaiba, C03 from Ibn Battuta | Origin and destination only. No fare, no time |
| Timetable page | E100, E101 | Lists E-numbers while, on the same page, saying “Route (C01) will be 24hrs” |
| RTA news, 29 December 2025 | E100 | “Bus Route E100 will not operate from Al Ghubaiba Bus Station starting from the afternoon of 31st December” |
The only service detail RTA publishes for any of them is that “Route (C01) will be 24hrs”. Fares are sold through a separate booking portal whose robots file blocks it from being read, so there is no published tariff page for this journey, and RTA publishes nothing about whether nol or cash is accepted on board.
Driving: the Darb toll, and the cap that no longer exists
Abu Dhabi’s Integrated Transport Centre published amendments on 15 August 2025, effective 1 September 2025:
“The fee of AED 4 will continue to be charged every time a vehicle passes through a toll gate”
Peak hours are 07:00–09:00 and 15:00–19:00, Monday to Saturday, and “Tariffs will continue to be free of charge on Sundays and official public holidays”.
The consequential change: the amendments eliminate “the current daily and monthly toll caps for private vehicles” — caps that had limited charges to AED 16 daily and AED 200, 150 or 100 monthly. A visitor crossing Darb gates repeatedly now has uncapped liability. The published exemptions cover People of Determination, low-income families, senior citizens and retirees; a tourist qualifies for none of them.
Abu Dhabi publishes nothing about how a rental car is billed for Darb, or whether a visitor must register. That sits in the rental contract, which is commercial material we do not reproduce. RTA, for its part, acknowledges Darb inside its taxi fare formula — “Fee for entering DARB (if applicable)” — without publishing an amount. Salik on the Dubai side is covered on the Salik page.
Taxi: two authorities, two starting fares
RTA publishes the formula: “Taxi Fare = Base fare + Kilometer charge + Taxi waiting time charge + Fee for entering Sharjah (if applicable) + Fee for entering Port Rashid area (if applicable) + Salik fee (if applicable) + Fee for entering DARB (if applicable)”, with road pickup “Starting fare from AED 5 / AED 5.5”. u.ae publishes, for the same city, “daytime starting fare for regular taxi is AED 8”. Both are official; we print both. Full detail on taxi fares.
u.ae is also the only authority publishing an inter-emirate taxi surcharge, and note carefully what it covers: “an additional charge of AED 4 when passing through toll gates in Dubai and 20 AED for trips between Dubai and the Northern Emirates”. Abu Dhabi is not the Northern Emirates. No authority publishes a Dubai–Abu Dhabi taxi tariff, and no authority publishes any “returning empty” surcharge rule — that one is folklore on the published record.
Your nol card does not work there
u.ae publishes the three-card reality plainly: “Hafilat smart card in Abu Dhabi”, “Nol card in Dubai”, “Sayer card in Sharjah”. Abu Dhabi’s own authority publishes the Hafilat card at AED 10 anonymous, valid 16 years — and, notably, never states whether nol is accepted or refused. The negative is carried only by u.ae’s listing.
Abu Dhabi bus fares, as its authority publishes them: “2 AED (Boarding Fee)” plus “5 Fils (Per Km)”, with “5 AED Maximum fare per journey (For more than 60 km trips)”, and “Transportation is free of charge for 10 years and below”. Transfers within 60 minutes, up to two transfers across three buses.
That free-travel age is worth pausing on: Abu Dhabi publishes free travel for children ten and under; Dubai publishes free travel for children five and under. Two authorities, two published ages, both current. See Dubai with children.
Questions nobody answers
- What does the bus cost? No authority publishes it.
- How long does it take and how often does it run? Unpublished, apart from C01 being 24 hours.
- Is my route C01 or E100? RTA publishes both, simultaneously, on its own pages.
- Can I pay with nol, or must I book ahead? Unpublished; the booking portal blocks crawlers.
- What does a taxi to Abu Dhabi cost? No published intercity tariff.
- Who pays my Darb tolls in a rental car, and how? Not published by either authority.
- Now the caps are gone, what is my maximum exposure in a day? Uncapped by design, and unquantified for a visitor.
- Where do I buy a Hafilat card on arrival? The price is published; the points of sale for a tourist are not.
More in Getting around
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Common questions
How much is the bus from Dubai to Abu Dhabi?
RTA publishes no fare. No journey time and no frequency either. Tickets are sold through a separate portal whose robots file blocks it from being read, so no published tariff page for this journey exists.
Which bus goes from Dubai to Abu Dhabi?
RTA publishes two answers. Its route list calls it C01 from Al Ghubaiba and C03 from Ibn Battuta; its timetable page and its own December 2025 news call it E100 and E101. Both live, unreconciled. The only service detail published is that 'Route (C01) will be 24hrs'.
What are the Abu Dhabi Darb toll charges?
AED 4 every time a vehicle passes a gate, at peak hours 07:00–09:00 and 15:00–19:00 Monday to Saturday, free on Sundays and public holidays. Critically, amendments effective 1 September 2025 removed the daily and monthly caps — so a visitor crossing repeatedly now has uncapped liability.
Does my nol card work in Abu Dhabi?
No. u.ae publishes the three-card reality: Hafilat in Abu Dhabi, nol in Dubai, Sayer in Sharjah. An anonymous Hafilat card is AED 10. Abu Dhabi's own authority never states whether nol is accepted or refused — the negative is carried only by u.ae's listing.
What does a taxi to Abu Dhabi cost?
No authority publishes an intercity taxi tariff, and none publishes any 'returning empty' surcharge rule — that one is folklore on the published record. u.ae publishes an AED 20 surcharge for 'trips between Dubai and the Northern Emirates', which does not cover Abu Dhabi.