“We wish them good luck with this referendum and hope that the outcome will be a yes and thus making Tallinn one of the most forward thinking and green cities in Europe,” Anna Nygård, spokesperson for Planka.nu, said in a press release.

The NGO has previously given the award to organisations, individuals or cities that have made a great contribution to improving traffic policies.

Tallinn's referendum will take place from March 19 to 25. If passed, the law would become effective beginning in 2013, the city government has said.

Mayor Edgar Savisaar has asserted that free public transport would reduce the number of car rides, traffic congestions, and accidents and ease the strain on the streets, and most importantly, it would increase the mobility of the families who find it difficult to make ends meet.

Ticket fare currently makes up less than 40 percent of the money spent on maintaining the public transport system, which means that Tallinn would have to find approximately 20 million euros of additional financing to start offering free public transport.

The award will be handed out this Saturday. Among the other nominees are the Swedish municipality Avesta and security researcher Ola Svenonius.

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