Tartu won 2nd place at the Green Destinations Story Awards 2021
The success story of Tartu Smart Bike Share and green buses won 2nd place at the Green Destinations Story Awards 2021 in the ITB Berlin Earth Award Environment & Climate category. First place went to Futaleufú, Chile, while third place went to Pipa, Brazil for its good practice to create a synergy between the community and the environment with benefits for both.
Tartu added an electric bike share system as a new service to its public transportation system in 2019. More than 100 km of new bike lanes have been built over the past five years. Now it is possible to travel from one side of the city to another on bicycle road by not meeting any cars at all. Tartu Smart Bike Share has been used to drive through total of 2 779 820 km with 1 028 258 rides.
The green gas used in Tartu public transport is made of waste and does not use valuable agricultural resources. Using biomethane as a carbon neutral fuel in public transport is in line with the city’s goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.
The Green Destinations Story Awards is a yearly event staged at ITB Berlin’s main venue, celebrating the most outstanding Good Practice Stories of the previous year’s Top 100 competition. Only destinations that are part of the 2020 Top 100 list were eligible for nomination to the 2021 Green Destinations Story Awards. Stories are selected by an international jury based on level of innovation, effectiveness to address a sustainability challenge, and if it can be replicated in other places. Important selection criteria were: level of innovation, how effective the stories are to solve real problems in tourism sustainability, and to what extent they can be applied elsewhere.
