How much is the Bus on Demand in Dubai?

Dubai Bus on Demand costs AED 5 per passenger per trip. Each extra passenger in the same booking pays AED 4, and a trip between zones costs AED 7 per passenger. Inside Business Bay the fare is AED 2; RTA cut it to that on 20 December 2024.

You book it in RTA’s Dubai Bus on Demand app, for up to 6 people in one ride. The app shows where the bus is, whether it has seats and how long it will take to reach you. RTA lists the service as open to citizens, residents and visitors, with no documents required.

What one ride costs for one to six people

The table uses the standard fare inside one zone. RTA’s page gives the extra-passenger rate only as “additional passengers in the same booking”. It does not say whether that rate also applies to the interzone fare or to the Business Bay fare, so the table does not price those for groups.

RTA lists no child fare, so every rider counts as a passenger.

Against a short taxi ride

A Dubai taxi never charges less than its minimum fare: AED 12 when you hail it on the street, AED 13 when you book it in an app. On Bus on Demand, two riders pay AED 9 together and three pay AED 13.

So on a short hop the saving is largest for one or two people. Each extra rider adds AED 4 to the bus total, while a short taxi ride stays at the minimum whoever is in it. Distance works the other way: the bus fare stays the same anywhere inside the zone, and a taxi meter keeps running. How much a Dubai taxi charges per kilometre gives the rates to work out a longer ride.

It does not join up with the metro fare

Bus on Demand is not part of the bus and metro fare: each Bus on Demand trip is paid on its own. RTA says so in the service’s own FAQ. Taking the metro to Business Bay and Bus on Demand from the station to your hotel means two separate payments, not one journey. On a Silver card, a one-zone metro trip (AED 3) plus the Business Bay fare (AED 2) comes to AED 5.

Where it runs

RTA’s page lists these zones: Al Barsha (1, 2 and 3), Al Nahda, Dubai Silicon Oasis, Academic City, Business Bay, Al Rigga, Port Saeed, Downtown, Al Karama, Oud Metha, Barsha Heights, DIFC, Al Mankhool, Al Qusais, Al Warqa, Jumeirah Village Circle, Dubai Investment Park, Al Satwa, Al Quoz and Mirdif. That is 20 entries, with Al Barsha 1, 2 and 3 counted as one.

You can ride only within the zone where your trip started, or between zones, and RTA asks you to book each trip within a zone separately. RTA’s list does not include Dubai Marina, Palm Jumeirah or the airport. The app shows the current areas, and RTA points to the app for them rather than to its page.

Paying

You pay with a credit or debit card in the app, Ride Credits bought in the app, or a nol card. Ride Credits are bought in the app before you book. If you choose a nol card, you can buy one or top one up and then select it as the payment method.

A nol card you already carry for the metro works here too. Which nol card to buy compares the Silver card with the paper Red Ticket. If you would rather tap a bank card at the metro gate, whether you can pay for the metro by card sets out where RTA’s upgrade has reached.

Where this page stops

It gives fares only. RTA’s page does not publish operating hours for Bus on Demand; the app shows when and where the buses run. The page also does not say which pairs of zones the interzone fare covers.

We do not quote hours or zone pairs from anywhere else.

Where these figures come from

The fares, the Business Bay fare and its start date, the group limit, the zones, the payment methods, who can use it and the FAQ on the metro fare are all on RTA’s service page for Dubai Bus on Demand. The taxi minimum fares are on RTA’s taxi fare page, and the Silver card metro fare is on RTA’s nol fares page. We read each page directly.