Dubai Public Transport Day – Gold and Smartphones for Commuters

Dubai will mark the Public Transport Day with a Public Transport Week. The emirate’s Roads and Transport Authority will be giving away prized with a combined value of AED 1 million, such as tablets, smartphones, Nol cards, branded sunglasses and even 4 kg of gold.

Although Public Transport Day is officially held on November 1, Dubai will celebrate all week long. In fact, RTA’s first events kicked off early this Sunday. The events and promotions for Public Transport Week will run until November 1.

There will be many draws and competitions during the entire week. People who have registered Nol cards will automatically enter into the draws whenever they use the Metro or the buses. Therefore, the more commuters travel the bigger chance they will have to win a prize.

Apart from that, RTA will organize different competitions and games, like basketball and cycling. There will again generous prizes to winners. The cycle races will take place throughout the entire Public Transport Week. Each of the races will be short and will last for about 2 minutes. Winners will be awarded with AED50-worth Gold Nol cards.

The basketball games, on the other hand will take place at Al Ghubaiba Metro station. U.S. basketball player Kareem Abdul Jabbar will also participate in them. The prizes for this event are worth AED 30,000. However, those wishing to be part of the basketball teams need to register at RTA’s website.

In addition, there will be blood donation camps and health checks that will be accessible to commuters on various locations between October 31 and November 1. People, who donate blood, will also receive sunglasses with an estimated value of AED 1,000 each.

The peak of the celebrations will be on November 1, when RTA will double the value of the prizes and will hold evens throughout the entire day. However, for the first time in many years, commuters will not be able to use the public transport for free on November 1.

Another great surprise for the Public Transport Week is that RTA will organize ferry trips to The World island. They will start at Al Ghubaiba marine station and will also give commuters the opportunity to walk away with a smartphone or a tablet. The first ferry trips already took place this Sunday. They will continue on October 28 (Tuesday) and November 1 (Saturday).

According to RTA, about 146 million people in Dubai have relied on public transport during H1 2014.