Olsztyn  is a city on the Łyna River in northeastern Poland in the region known as the "Thousand Lakes". Olsztyn is the capital of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, and is a city with county rights. Almost half of big enterprises in the region and many public and commercial services are located here. Over 20,000 people study at the University of Warmia and Mazury. Moreover, as a capital city of a popular tourist region, Olsztyn is a destination or at least a stop on the route to the Mazurian Lakes. One of the results of this status is a growing number of cars in the city. In combination with the urban sprawl, it causes major problems with congestion, parking and other mobility issues.

  The City has adopted several strategic documents:

• Olsztyn Functional Urban Area Strategy
• Mobility Plan for Olsztyn Functional Urban Area 2025 (SUMP)
• Plan of Sustainable Development of Public Transport in Olsztyn 2012-2027
• Strategy for Public Transport Development in Olsztyn – 2027
• Concept for Optimising the Transport Offer after the Next Tram Network Development Stage in Olsztyn
• Programme for Cycling Routes in Olsztyn

To solve mobility problems, Olsztyn develops its public transport system with a particular focus put on the tram network reintroduced after 50 years. The new mode of transport became a starting point for revolutionary changes to the city’s transport system. The project included new trams, 11km of tracks, creation of bus lines for priority of PT vehicles and introduction of the Intelligent Transport System (ITS) with subsystems for bus and tram management, traffic monitoring, dynamic passenger information, ticket selling, city card, meteorological information etc. The effects of the project are: new public transport network (3 tram lines, 35 bus lines), better transport connections, higher frequency and more flexible ticketing, 3 mil. PT trips a year, high level of PT users’ satisfaction, modern tools for city transport management (ITS). 

It is a step to achieve such strategic goals of Olsztyn FUA’s SUMP as:

• High quality public collective transport and road transport
• More attractive public spaces and higher security and safety
• Promotion and support for more reasonable mobility choices

Tram recovery and the public transport revolution was widely reported in Polish and foreign media as it was the first tramway greenfield investment in Poland. The City of Olsztyn was awarded many times for this project (Polish Infrastructure Diamonds Award in category "Investment of the year", ITS World Congress Hall of Fame in Melbourne - ITS World Congress Hall of Fame Winner from Europe region in category „Local government”, ITS Leader Award in category „Best Implementation” – Polish ITS Congress). The project is promoted in Interreg projects. It's a part of the „Report on policies and good practices” in Interconnect project (Interreg South Baltic) and also considered as an important part of the experience exchange in the SUMBA project (Interreg Baltic Sea Region).

https://www.olsztyn.eu