A UAE transport company built for groups.

A passenger transport company in the UAE

Emirates Bus Hire is a passenger transport company in the UAE. We supply vans, minibuses and coaches with drivers to companies, schools, event organisers, tour groups and families, plus a few cars for the people organising them. Our office is on Al Muraqqabat Street in Deira, Dubai, and the vehicles work in all seven emirates.

It helps to say what we don’t do, because “transport company” covers a lot of ground in this country. We don’t carry goods, move furniture or run heavy haulage. We don’t rent vehicles for self-drive. And we are not part of the public bus network. If you need any of those, you need a different kind of company, and the next section should help you find the right one.

The different kinds of UAE transport companies

Directories of UAE transport companies mix together businesses that have very little in common. Roughly, they fall into these groups:

• Public transport authorities and their operators, which run the metro, trams, city buses and intercity routes in each emirate
• Taxi and ride-hailing services, for one to four people going from A to B
• Chauffeur and limousine companies, for executive cars and luxury vehicles by the hour or the day
• Bus and coach rental companies like us, for groups that need a vehicle and driver for a trip, a day or every working day
• School transport operators, which run daily school bus routes under their own set of rules
• Freight, logistics and heavy transport companies, which move goods, containers and equipment

Many businesses straddle two of these. Still, the first question to ask any company is simple: does it run passenger vehicles with drivers, in the size you need, in the emirate where your trip starts? A logistics firm with a large fleet of lorries is no help with a staff bus.

Looking for a list of transport companies in the UAE?

We won’t publish a ranking of other operators. Lists of “top transport companies” are mostly advertising, and the right company for a 50-seat staff route is often wrong for a family airport run. What we can do is tell you where lists come from and how to use them.

Business directories, chambers of commerce and free zone registers all list transport companies, usually by trade licence activity. That tells you a business exists. It doesn’t tell you what vehicles it runs, whether its drivers hold the right licences or how it handles a breakdown at 5.45 in the morning. Use a list to build a shortlist, then ask each company the same questions in writing.

Good questions are short. What exactly is in the price? Who drives, and what licence do they hold? What happens if the vehicle is off the road? Can we see the quote with every extra listed? Our staff transport contract checklist has the full set for monthly routes.

Licences, and who regulates passenger transport

Each emirate regulates transport on its own roads. Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), Sharjah’s Roads and Transport Authority and Abu Dhabi’s Integrated Transport Centre are the best known, and the other emirates have their own authorities or departments. A trip that crosses emirates crosses jurisdictions too, which is one reason group transport is a licensed activity rather than something anyone with a van can sell.

In general terms, a passenger transport company needs a trade licence that covers the activity, vehicles registered for that use and drivers licensed for the class of vehicle they drive. A 50-seat coach needs a heavy-vehicle licence; our coach drivers hold one. Some kinds of work, such as daily school transport, come with additional rules of their own.

The detail changes, and it differs between emirates, so treat this as a map rather than the law. If your procurement process needs documents, list them when you ask for a quote and we will confirm what we can supply. For the current rules, the transport authority in the emirate concerned is the place to check.

What we run

Our fleet runs in classes, from cars for organisers to 50-seat coaches. All are air-conditioned, every seat has a seat belt, and vehicles are cleaned between jobs.

Starting prices are for a full day (up to 10 hours) within Dubai, with driver and fuel. We also supply a 7-seater SUV. We don’t run vehicles over 50 seats or double-deckers; bigger groups combine vehicles in one booking.

The work splits into staff transport, labour and crew transport, school and university trips, event shuttles, tours and day trips and airport group transfers. For small groups, see van rental with a driver.

How a one-off booking works

You tell us the date, the timings, the pick-up and drop-off points, the headcount and the luggage. We match the vehicle and send a written quote, usually within the hour. It covers the vehicle, the driver, fuel and road tolls (Salik in Dubai, Darb in Abu Dhabi). Waiting time, parking and extra hours are listed separately, so a finance team can approve it in one go.

Nothing is charged until you reply to confirm. Before the day, the organiser receives the driver’s details. On the day, the driver and our team send live updates. A trip can be priced per journey, per half day (five hours) or per full day (ten hours), but never per seat. You are hiring the whole vehicle.

How our transport contracts work

Most of our contract work is recurring staff transport, and it starts with a map. You send the home areas or accommodation addresses, the workplace, the shift times, the working days and the headcount. We group people into pick-up points, choose the road for the time of day and size the vehicle to the busiest run, with a seat or two spare. Sometimes that is one coach. Often it is a coach for the main pick-up and a van for a smaller one.

The contract then sets out one monthly price per route, covering the vehicle, the driver, fuel and Salik tolls. It names the stops, the times and the working days. A regular driver is assigned where possible, relief drivers are briefed on the route before they cover it, and a replacement vehicle runs if the usual one is in for service.

Change is normal, so the contract plans for it. When the headcount moves or a shift changes, we re-plan the route and confirm the new times and the new monthly price in writing. Ramadan hours and the summer midday break both mean re-timing, and we would rather hear about them a week early than the night before. Monthly contracts start at one month, and a short project can be covered by the week. Many clients start with one route, see how it runs and add others later.

A practical example: a daily return run between Sharjah and Dubai in a 12 to 15 seat van starts from AED 4,800 per month, against a typical market range of AED 5,000 to 6,500. See Sharjah to Dubai staff transport for how that route is planned.

Programmes that aren’t monthly

Not every contract is a staff route. A conference with three hotels and four days of sessions, a school’s term of trips, a tour operator’s week-long itinerary or a wedding weekend can all be quoted in one written document, with each journey listed. That makes approval simple, and it means one point of contact with us for the whole programme. For multi-coach events we provide an on-site coordinator.

Working across emirates

Very few group journeys in the UAE stay inside one emirate. Staff live in Ajman and work in Dubai; delegates land in Sharjah and stay in Abu Dhabi; a retreat starts in Business Bay and ends at a resort in Ras Al Khaimah or Fujairah. We quote those as single trips, with tolls in the price, and the driver plans the crossing points before the day. See Umm Al Quwain and Fujairah and the east coast for two of the longer runs.

Getting a quote for a contract

Send the route details through the booking form (choose “Staff transport (recurring)” for a monthly route), email info@emiratesbushire.com or WhatsApp +971 54 126 1681. Include where people start, where they go, the times and the headcount today and in six months. If your vendor registration needs particular documents, list them. We reply with a written price per route, and nothing is charged until you sign off.

Related: Staff Transport · Staff transport contract guide · Labour transport · The fleet · Get a quote

Keep reading

• Sharjah to Dubai staff transport: Daily staff routes from Sharjah and Ajman into Dubai, on a fixed monthly timetable with a regular driver.
• Staff transport contract guide: The questions HR, admin and procurement teams should ask before signing a monthly staff bus contract.
• Labour transport: Air-conditioned vans and buses for site crews, on fixed monthly routes from accommodation to site.
• School trip transport guide: A step-by-step guide for trip leads: headcounts, ratios, timings, seat belts and the day itself.
• Sports team transport: Match-day buses for squads, kit and supporters, from club fixtures to the Dubai Sevens.
• Bus rental Umm Al Quwain: Vans, minibuses and coaches with drivers for staff routes, Dreamland and lagoon trips, weddings and airport runs from Umm Al Quwain.