What it costs: commuting to Dubai

A helicopter takes between 35 and 45 minutes, but if you have a lot of cargo, you might need to send a taxi off behind you.

One day you should be able to ride a fast, reliable high-speed train from Abu Dhabi to Dubai (or Muscat or Bahrain), leaving your car parked safely at home and your body alert rather than ragged after hours of driving. While the rails are years away from completion, you don't have to drive to get to the City of Life from the capital. However, some options are better than others if you need to get there immediately, or you wish to avoid thinning out your wallet too much. We look at three popular inter-city routes that will get you from point AUH to point DXB without needing to touch a steering wheel.

The time factor Between 35 and 45 minutes, depending on the route taken and the craft used. But you do get to avoid the traffic of Sheikh Zayed Road by soaring above it - how cool is that? And you get a bird's-eye view of both the capital and Dubai to boot.

Onboard The Eurocopter EC130, which Falcon Aviation typically uses on its air-taxi service, sits six fairly comfortably. But helicopters do have limitations on weight and size that are much more pronounced than land vehicles. If you have a lot of cargo, you might need to send a taxi off behind you. Ease of use You do have to travel to a terminal. Falcon has hubs in Abu Dhabi near Marina Mall, and in Dubai at Festival City, although they have access to other helipads if those are too far away. Also, remember you have to order the flight in advance. "We do aim to be available to take off two hours after receiving the request," says Nathalie Jongma of Falcon. If you need to leave last minute, you may need to find another way. Dh15,000

The time factor Expect two hours from downtown to downtown, and maybe 90 minutes to Dubai Marina. Traffic on Sheikh Zayed Road, or on the streets of Abu Dhabi, will slow down your journey significantly. Onboard While your taxi may not have a bathroom on board or Wi-Fi as the buses do, you have the marvellous gift of space. Sit back, relax (if you can) and check your Blackberry. Or just enjoy the ride. You can see much more of the neighbourhoods you travel through when you aren't driving.

Ease of use It should be as easy as raising your hand, and in many places it is. But if you live outside of downtown and want to travel during rush hour or late at night, be prepared to wait. On the other hand, a taxi might be the best way to travel if you have lots of cargo - shopping bags, for example. And having a direct door-to-door route does minimise the problems associated with transferring from bus or chopper to cab, and vice versa. Dh250

The time factor Once the bus departs, expect two to three hours for your journey, depending on traffic. Add to that the time you'll spend waiting for the bus to fill up and other minor delays. Onboard Usually buses give you slightly more space than an airline seat, but beware of seatmates who claim your temporarily sovereign territory as their own. For more reasons than you'd think, coaches without functional air conditioning are best avoided.

Ease of use You have to travel to the Bus Terminal to find your chariot, which is a simple walk if you live near Al Wahda Mall. But this can become a time-consuming, expensive and even backwards journey if you're leaving from, say, Al Raha Beach. Unlike the other two methods, bus tickets are sold per person, so if you have four friends it might save you a whole lot of money to grab a cab once you factor in onward transport costs to your final destination in Dubai.

Dh20