Every year, the Local Government Portal of the Polish Press Agency organizes a nationwide competition "Innovative Local Government", the aim of which is promotion of creative and innovative solutions of local governments. The jury appreciated the city's activities for the development of sustainable public transport. On May 26, the awards gala took place in Warsaw. The city of Ełk received a distinction among municipalities for the project "Development of sustainable public transport in The City of Ełk – stage I and III".

As part of the m.in project, eight modern buses were purchased hybrid Volvo brands, which can accommodate 96 people each. Buses are equipped with with independent heating of the passenger compartment, full truck load air conditioning and electronic direction boards. For those who have difficulties with free movement, low-floor buses with entrance were purchased stepless. In addition, each bus has USB ports for charging devices Electronic.

The project also included the installation of an intelligent system excited signalling, installation at bus stops electronic information boards, as well as the installation of SOS buttons and cameras.

All activities related to the project were aimed at m.in improvement comfort of travel, reduction of waiting time for the bus, and thus increasing the number of residents who will give up driving for public transport. As part of the project, a campaign was conducted promoting public transport under the slogan "I care about Ełk, I choose a bus". Replacing worn-out buses with new, low-emission ones improved clean air in the city.

The project was implemented in 2018-2021

Total cost of the project: PLN 22,644,997.35

Co-financing from the WiM ROP for the years 2014-2020: PLN 16,360,891.68

Own contribution of the city: PLN 6,284,105.67

More about the competition

This is the 4th edition of the event, which promotes innovative projects carried out by local governments or their organizational units. The awards were presented in six categories: rural communes, urban-rural communes , urban communes, large cities (over 200,000 inhabitants), powiats, voivodship self-governments.

According to PAP data, a total of 244 projects were submitted to the competition. Most projects were submitted in the category of urban municipalities – 73.

The competition was held under the honorary patronage of the Prime Minister. Patronage also provided by the Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy, the Ministry of Development and Technology, Ministry of the Interior and Administration and: Govtech Polska, Union of Provinces of the Republic of Poland, Union of Metropolises Polish, Association of Rural Municipalities of the Republic of Poland, Association of Polish Cities, Association of Polish Counties, Union of Polish Towns.

The strategic partners of the competition are: Polish Development Fund, Agency Industrial Development S.A., PLAY and Anwil Grupa ORLEN.