Dubai: Prizes worth Dh1 million are on offer for public transport commuters as the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) celebrates the 5th Public Transport Day on November 1.

The celebrations begin on October 26 and will continue for a week with prizes, including 4kg of gold, to be won every day through raffle draws and other surprises.

“Through the Public Transport Day initiative, the RTA seeks to encourage various community segments to shun reliance on private vehicles and switch to using public transport modes in the emirate,” said Dr Yousuf Al Ali, CEO of RTA’s Public Transport Agency and Chair of the Public Transport Day Committee.

As many as 146 million people used various modes of public transport in the first half of this year in Dubai.

The Public Transport Day activities will include various contests and events involving US basketball star Kareem Abdul Jabbar that will be held at Metro stations, bus stops as well as through social media. The prizes will include Nol cards with free credit as well as other surprise gifts.

Commuters will have to register their Nol silver and gold cards through RTA’s public transport app on smartphones or use their Nol Blue cards to be eligible for the competitions and prizes.

People interested in taking part in the basketball matches with Karim Abdul Jabbar are required to register their names through the website (http://rta.duplays.com). This event will be run at Al Ghubaiba bus station for one day only from 9am to 6pm on November 1.

Among the other events are Electronic Bikes contest that will be staged during the week at several Metro stations, namely, BurJuman, Al Ghubaiba, Al Fahidi, and Mall of the Emirates, as well as Al Satwa and Al Ghubaiba bus stations, and Al Ghubaiba Marine station, from 8am to 8pm.

A variety of other events and contests for families and children include juggling, face painting, handicrafts and cartoons.

One of the most popular annual activities of Public Tranpsort Day, medical checkups, will be conducted at the Union, Terminal 3, and Healthcare City Metro stations throughout the week. Blood donation events will be coordinated with the Dubai Health Authority and will be held at Al Ghubaiba bus station on October 31 and November 1.