Taxis and ride-hailing in the United Arab Emirates

Dubai taxis are among the easiest in the world to use. Fares are set by the Roads and Transport Authority, the meter is always used, and there is no haggling. Flag one on the street, from a hotel rank or at a mall entrance and the same rate applies whichever company owns the car.

The distance rate sits at roughly 2.19 dirhams a kilometre, but treat that as a band rather than a fixed number: the RTA revises it monthly in line with fuel prices, so it drifts within a few fils either way. A 10 kilometre run across town typically lands somewhere around 35 dirhams, or about 10 dollars.

Pink-roofed ladies taxis with female drivers are available for women and families at the same regulated rates.

The starting fare looks low, about 5 dirhams by day and 5.50 at night (roughly 10pm to 6am), which is why people are surprised by the total on a short trip. The number that actually governs a quick hop is the minimum fare: around 12 dirhams for a street hail and 13 for an app booking, whatever the distance.

Booking through an app also adds a booking fee, roughly 4 dirhams off-peak and up to 7.50 in peak hours. None of this is large in dollar terms, but it explains why a two kilometre ride and a four kilometre ride can cost nearly the same.

Taking a taxi from Dubai International means a fixed 25 dirham start rather than the ordinary flagfall, after which the meter runs as usual. Airport to Downtown or Dubai Marina generally lands in the 60 to 100 dirham range depending on traffic, which is 16 to 27 dollars. Going the other way, to the airport, there is no such surcharge.

Two extras appear on longer runs. Salik tolls, the road gantries on routes like Sheikh Zayed Road, are passed through to you at about 4 dirhams a gate, and waiting time in heavy traffic is charged at about 0.50 dirhams a minute. Both are legitimate and appear on the meter, so they are worth knowing rather than worrying about.

Careem (owned by Uber and the regional favourite) and Uber both operate across the UAE, and the RTA taxi fleet can be hailed through the apps too. They are reliable and quote the fare in advance, which some people prefer, but they generally run 10 to 25% above the street meter for the same journey.

Paying is easy: nearly all taxis take cards and phone wallets, and many accept the Nol transit card. For anything along its line, the Dubai Metro is dramatically cheaper than a cab and runs on the same Nol card, so a mix of metro plus short taxi hops is the cheapest way around the city.

For what to leave the driver, see tipping in the UAE, and cash or card in the UAE for how to pay for everything else. Note that Abu Dhabi is regulated separately by its own Integrated Transport Centre, with similar metered fares.

Common questions

Quick answers.

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