By Mohammed Rashad Hussain, Managing PartnerPublished 4 min read
What is Darb and how is it different from Salik?
Darb is the toll system on Abu Dhabi’s roads, run by Q Mobility for Abu Dhabi Mobility (the Integrated Transport Centre). It began with gates on the approaches to Abu Dhabi island. Two newer gates, Ghantoot and Al Qurm, opened on 4 May 2026.
Dubai’s Salik works on a windscreen tag. Darb reads the number plate and charges a wallet linked to the vehicle. Both charge per crossing, but the rates, hours and rules are separate, so a Salik tag does nothing in Abu Dhabi.
What are the Darb toll timings?
The charged windows are fixed:
| Gates | When it charges | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Peak-hour gates | 7:00 to 9:00 and 15:00 to 19:00, Monday to Saturday | AED 4 per crossing |
| Ghantoot and Al Qurm | 24 hours, every day, from 4 May 2026 | AED 4 per crossing |
| All peak-hour gates | Sundays and official public holidays | Free |
The evening window was revised to 3 pm to 7 pm on 1 September 2025, so check the date on any older guide you read.
Where are the Darb gates on the Dubai to Abu Dhabi road?
The Ghantoot gate is on Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Street at Ghantoot, the first Abu Dhabi gate on the Dubai side. The official notice names Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Street as the alternative route. The Al Qurm gate is on Wahat Al Karama Street, at the Sheikh Zayed Street entrance and exit, with Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Street and Arabian Gulf Street as alternatives.
The older peak-hour gates stand on the approaches to Abu Dhabi island. Abu Dhabi Mobility’s pages we checked do not list their names, so check the Darb portal for the current list. The full Dubai to Abu Dhabi run is about 139 km and 88 minutes without traffic, per the OpenStreetMap-based OSRM router, so the gates add cost and queueing rather than distance.
How much does a crossing cost, and is there a daily cap?
Every crossing is AED 4 in a charged period. Abu Dhabi Mobility removed the caps for private vehicles on 1 September 2025. With no cap, a day of meetings that crosses the island several times adds up, so count the crossings in your plan.
Do Dubai-registered and rental cars need to register with Darb?
The charge follows the plate. Abu Dhabi Mobility’s Darb page sets out a grace period of ten working days from the first pass for an unregistered vehicle. After that the fines are AED 100 for a first offence, AED 200 for a second and AED 400 for a third and later. A car registered outside Abu Dhabi with too little in its wallet pays AED 50 per transaction once a five-working-day grace period ends.
Registration is through the Darb portal. For a rental car, ask the company three things before you leave the lot:
- Is the car already on Darb?
- Does the company pass the toll on at cost or add an admin fee?
- How are fines billed to you after you return the car?
Our guide to driving in Dubai as a tourist covers how Salik and fines show up on a rental bill.
Darb in Ramadan and on public holidays
Public holidays are free at the peak-hour gates. For Ramadan we found only one set of peak hours on the official pages and no separate timetable, so confirm on the Abu Dhabi Mobility site before you travel that month. The 24-hour Ghantoot and Al Qurm gates run on their own rule and were announced without a holiday exemption.
How Darb appears on a Dubai to Abu Dhabi transfer
If you book a car with a driver, the toll is charged to the vehicle, not to you. Assure’s quote says whether Salik and Darb are included for your route, and you do not need to register or top up a wallet. For a single trip, compare that against self-drive costs in self-drive versus chauffeur in Dubai.
Common starting points for the run are Zayed International Airport, a Dubai hotel on the Dubai to Abu Dhabi transfer or an address in Abu Dhabi city. If you are weighing the whole trip, how to get from Dubai to Abu Dhabi compares the options and getting around Abu Dhabi covers taxis and buses once you arrive. The wider Dubai travel guide links the rest.
Photos in this guide
A toll gate gantry reading Al Maqta Bridge Toll Gate over an Abu Dhabi road, with the bridge arches beyondTotakan sugiar / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
A Salik toll tag stuck to a car windscreen behind the rear-view mirrorAppusviews at Malayalam Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
A blue overhead road sign for Jabal Ali and Abu Dhabi with a Salik toll gate warning 6.0 km aheadSteven Lek / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
