Dubai: Of the hundreds of thousands of commuters using the Dubai Metro daily, Mohammad Hamdan and Abdul Kadar are the luckiest this year.
The duo bagged Dh50,000 each on Wednesday as part of the Public Transport Day celebration of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) in Dubai where frequent public transport users were picked to take home prizes.
The campaign aims to encourage residents to ditch their cars and use public transport such as the metro and tram, public buses, and marine transport such as the water taxi and waterbus.
Mattar Al Tayer, director-general and chairman of the Board of Directors of RTA, awarded the “frequent travellers” in the presence of senior officials. The winners collected the maximum number of points while using their Nol cards as they commuted across the city from October 23 to November 1.
Al Tayer also awarded the RTA’s strategic partners and the media and thanked them for supporting the RTA.
During the ceremony, Al Tayer expressed gratitude to His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, for his guidance, care, and support to RTA’s plans and projects.
Among the three lucky winners who were honoured is Indian expatriate Mohammad Hamdan Shaikh Mohiuddin, a data entry agent who has been using the Dubai Metro since it was first rolled out on September 9, 2009.
“I live at Al Fahidi near Meena Bazaar which is close to the metro station. It’s very convenient for me to just hop on the metro and travel to work all in 40 to 45 minutes without having to deal with traffic jams,” Mohiuddin, 31, told Gulf News.
“In my almost eight-and-a-half years in Dubai, I have never felt the need to buy a car because there’s public transport. Car owners have to deal with traffic, fines, and parking issues. If you use public transport, there are no headaches as such,” he added.
Convenience is also the reason why Abdul Kadar Alayil Kizhakkepurayil uses the Dubai Metro. The Dh50,000 prize he got on Wednesday was just the bonus.
“I started using the metro since its inception. I use the metro everyday from 7.30am to 9pm but not only to and from work. I’m in marketing and document collection. So I go around the city numerous times in a day,” Abdul Kadar, 52, from India, told Gulf News.
“This is very helpful for my profession. Before the metro, I was able to do transactions with only around 10 people. Now, I can do that with 20 to 50, sometimes even hundreds, in a day. Plus, there is no tension, no slow-moving traffic to deal with,” he added.
Another advantage of using public transport is it allows for commuters to save money and encourages them to be more active by walking from one station to the next, Mohiuddin said.
Both winners said they will use the prize money on their children. Abdul Kadar said he’ll add some of the prize money to his budget for the construction of his dream home back in India.
Other winners received Dh15,000 and Dh30,000 cash prizes during the awarding ceremony. Al Tayer also honoured Dubai’s best taxi drivers during the ceremony.
