Dubai Bus Fares
Dubai bus fares run on the same zone table as the metro: AED 3 inside one zone, AED 5 across two adjacent zones and AED 7.50 for anything longer, paid with a Silver or Blue NOL card. A Gold card drops to the Silver rate the moment you board a bus. Two services sit outside the table: route 110 charges a flat AED 2 and the Hatta express is AED 25.
Dubai bus fare by zone
RTA charges by the number of fare zones a journey touches, not by distance or by mode. A bus ride of 20 minutes inside Zone 2 costs the same AED 3 as a metro ride of 20 minutes inside Zone 2, and a bus that crosses from Deira into Bur Dubai costs AED 5 the way the metro does.
That has one useful consequence: you never have to work out which mode is cheaper, only which is faster. It has an awkward one too, which is that a short hop across a zone boundary costs more than a long ride that stays inside a zone. The zone map is the thing to check before you assume a trip is cheap.
Concession holders pay half: AED 1.50, AED 2.50 and AED 3.75 for students aged 5 to 23, residents over 60 and Social Affairs beneficiaries, all of which need a Blue Personal card. People of Determination travel free, and so do children aged five and under.
| Card | Within 1 zone | 2 adjacent zones | More than 2 zones |
|---|---|---|---|
| Silver or Blue | AED 3 | AED 5 | AED 7.50 |
| Gold, on a bus | AED 3 | AED 5 | AED 7.50 |
| Red Ticket | AED 4 | AED 6 | AED 8.50 |
| Student, senior or Social Affairs | AED 1.50 | AED 2.50 | AED 3.75 |
Based on RTA nol Fares. The same table applies on metro, tram and city buses.
A Gold card pays the Silver rate on a bus
The Gold premium is a metro and tram product. There is no Gold Class section on an RTA bus, so a Gold card tapped on a bus validator is charged the standard fare: AED 3 rather than AED 6 for one zone, and AED 7.50 rather than AED 15 for a long trip.
That is worth knowing for anyone whose commute mixes the two. Ride the metro in Gold Class and finish on a feeder bus, and the bus leg is charged at the regular rate even though the same card paid double an hour earlier. The Gold card page sets out where the premium does and does not apply.
The reverse trap catches more people. A Gold card on the metro pays the premium every single time, seat taken or not, so if most of your travel is by bus a Gold card gives you nothing at all.
The routes that ignore the zone table
Route 110 charges a flat AED 2 for every rider, and travel passes are not accepted on it. A 30 day pass in your pocket does not cover that trip; the fare comes off your balance like any other purchase.
Hatta is the other exception. The H02 express to Hatta costs AED 25 each way, and the H04 hop on service inside Hatta charges AED 2 a stop. Intercity coaches to Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and the northern emirates run on their own fare scales, which RTA publishes per route rather than in the zone table.
Everything else on the city network, including feeders that meet the metro, uses the standard zones. The fare calculator works on those zone rules and tells you which tier a trip falls into.
Bus to metro transfers are one fare, not two
A journey made of several legs is charged once when the transfers fit the rules: each change within 30 minutes of checking out, no more than 3 transfers, and under 180 minutes from start to finish. Bus to metro, metro to tram and bus to bus all count.
The fare is then based on the zones the whole journey touched. A feeder bus from a Zone 2 community to a Zone 2 metro station and a train ride to a Zone 6 office is a two zone journey at AED 5, not a bus fare plus a metro fare.
Miss the 30 minute window and the second leg starts a new journey with its own fare. That is the one thing worth watching if you stop for coffee between legs. The full fare rules cover the transfer conditions and where each one is published.
Tapping, balance and bus hours
Buses run 04:00 to 01:00 across the city, an hour earlier at the start than the metro, with route C01 running 24 hours. Your card needs at least AED 7.50 on it before the validator accepts a check in.
Tap on when you board and tap off when you leave. A missed check out is treated as an incomplete journey rather than a free one, and RTA does not publish a single figure for what it costs, so the safe habit is to touch the reader on the way out every time.
One quirk trips up people who top up online. Credit bought on the RTA website, in a bank app or through Dubai Now sits pending for 45 minutes to 4 hours and then needs a tap to activate, and bus validators cannot do that activation. Use a metro gate, a parking meter, a solar machine at a bus stop or NOL Pay over NFC. The top up guide lists which channels are instant and which need that extra tap.
When the bus is the wrong choice, and when it is the only one
Identical fares do not mean identical journeys. A bus crossing two zones costs the same AED 5 as the metro doing it, and takes considerably longer in traffic on Sheikh Zayed Road. If both serve your route, the train wins on time and the bus wins only on the walk at either end.
Three of Dubai's seven fare zones have no rail at all. Zones 3, 4 and 7 cover places like Mirdif, Al Warqa, Ras Al Khor and the inland stretch behind Al Barsha, and until the Blue Line opens in 2029 the bus is the only public transport there. For those trips the question is not which mode is better, only which route is quickest.
Keep reading
NOL Card Balance Check Online 2026: RTA Dubai
Check your NOL card balance with the 10 digit tag ID, then open the official RTA page. Minimum balance AED 7.50, every method, updated August 2026.
NOL Fare Calculator 2026: Dubai Metro, Bus, Tram
Work out any Dubai Metro, bus or tram fare by zone and card type: Silver AED 3 to 7.50, Gold double, Red Ticket, concessions. Updated August 2026.
NOL Card and Dubai Metro Questions and Answers
Straight answers on NOL balance checks, tag IDs, fares, zones, passes, refunds, lost cards, expiry and how our calculators are tested against RTA.
Frequently asked questions
How much is a bus fare in Dubai?
AED 3 within one zone, AED 5 across two adjacent zones and AED 7.50 for more than two, on a Silver or Blue NOL card. Concession cards pay half.
Is the bus cheaper than the metro in Dubai?
No, they cost exactly the same. RTA charges by zones crossed rather than by mode, so the only difference between a bus trip and a metro trip over the same zones is how long it takes.
Does a Gold NOL card pay more on the bus?
No. Gold Class exists on the metro and tram only. On a bus a Gold card is charged the standard Silver rate, from AED 3.
Can I use a monthly pass on Dubai buses?
Yes, on city buses within the zones your pass covers. It is not valid on route 110, which charges a flat AED 2, or on intercity and seasonal services.
How much is the bus to Hatta?
AED 25 each way on the H02 express. Inside Hatta, the H04 service charges AED 2 a stop.
Do I have to tap out on a Dubai bus?
Yes. Check in when you board and check out when you get off. Without the check out the system cannot tell how many zones you crossed, and the journey is treated as incomplete.
What time do Dubai buses start and stop?
Most routes run 04:00 to 01:00. Route C01 runs around the clock, and Ramadan brings retimed schedules published in the S'hail app.