Salik is Dubai's road toll system, and if you rent a car here you will pass through at least one gate on most trips across the city. There is no cash booth and no sticker to buy. The car already has a Salik tag, a camera reads it as you drive through, and the toll is billed to whoever the car is registered to. On a rental that means the company pays first and passes the cost to you. This guide covers the 2026 rates, where the gates are, and how we handle Salik at NCK.
What Salik costs in 2026
Dubai moved to time-based pricing in June 2026, so the toll now depends on when you cross, not only where. During peak hours, 06:00 to 10:00 and 16:00 to 20:00, each crossing is AED 6.30. Off-peak, from 10:00 to 16:00 and again from 20:00 to 01:00, it drops to AED 4.20. Between 01:00 and 06:00 the gates are free, and Sundays run at a flat AED 4 outside those free early hours. All the prices include VAT.
The charge is per gate, per crossing. There is no daily cap, so every gate you pass adds to the total.
A typical day, in tolls
Say you are staying in Dubai Marina and driving into Downtown. Heading out mid-morning you might cross Al Barsha and Al Safa, then Business Bay Crossing near Downtown: three gates at AED 4.20, so about AED 12.60 each way. Leave the return until the evening peak between 16:00 and 20:00 and those same three gates are AED 6.30 each, closer to AED 19. A full day crossing the city both ways lands most people between AED 20 and AED 45.
Where the gates are
Dubai has ten Salik gates in 2026, most of them on the roads you will actually use. The ones you meet most often are:
- Sheikh Zayed Road: Al Barsha, Al Safa and Al Safa South
- The Creek crossings: Al Maktoum Bridge, Al Garhoud Bridge, Business Bay Crossing and the Airport Tunnel
- Jebel Ali, on the way south towards Abu Dhabi
- Al Mamzar, near the Sharjah border
Business Bay Crossing and Al Safa South are the newest gates, live since late 2024, so older toll estimates you find online may be low.
Do tourists need to set anything up?
No. The Salik tag lives on the car, linked to the owner's account, so there is nothing for you to register, top up, or stick to the windscreen. You drive through the gates like any other car and the crossings are totalled for you. With a rental, that account belongs to the company, which is why the toll reaches you through them rather than as a separate bill.
Who pays Salik on a rental
Because the tag belongs to the car, the toll is billed to the rental company, and the company recovers it from you. That part is standard everywhere. The part worth checking before you book is the markup, because some companies add a handling fee on top of every crossing.
NCK bills Salik at the official rate, the same AED 4.20 or 6.30 you would pay in your own car. No handling fee, no markup.
Tolls in the other emirates
Salik only covers Dubai. Drive to Abu Dhabi and you meet a separate system called Darb, which tolls the bridges onto the island at its own rates and times. Sharjah, Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah have no road tolls, so a run up to Jebel Jais or over to the east coast is toll-free once you leave Dubai. If your trip crosses into Abu Dhabi, budget for Darb the same way you would for Salik.
How NCK handles it
With us the tolls are totalled at the government rate when your rental ends, with nothing added. It is the same approach we take to fines and to pricing in general: no deposit, insurance included, and the price you see is the price you pay. If you would rather not think about gates at all, our chauffeur service folds Salik into the quote.
Keeping Salik costs down
- Cross off-peak where you can; the middle of the day and after 20:00 are cheaper
- Late-night trips between 01:00 and 06:00 are free
- Plan a route that avoids doubling back through the same gates
- Budget roughly AED 20 to 40 in tolls for a busy day of city driving
Every car in our luxury fleet and the wider range comes with a working Salik tag, so you can drive straight off. Message us on WhatsApp and we will deliver the car anywhere in Dubai, tag active and ready.