NICHES+

NICHES+ (New and Innovative Concepts for Helping European Transport Sustainability - Towards Implementation) built further on the NICHES project. Its mission was to promote innovative measures for making urban transport more efficient and sustainable and to move them from their current ‘niche’ position into a mainstream urban transport application.

To help local and regional authorities to develop implementation scenarios for introducing innovative concepts to existing policies of urban transport, project researchers focused on four topical themes and corresponding innovative concepts: increased accessibility to urban mobility options, increased use and efficiency of infrastructure and interchanges, exploiting functionalities of urban traffic management centers, and automated and space-efficient transport.

A working group of experts was set up in each thematic area to share expertise and facilitate networking activities. Seven champion cities and innovative concepts were chosen for work on implementation scenarios, which were pegged to address issues related to the actual roll-out of transport measures. The needs and expectations of potential users and implementers were studied, and the transferability of innovative concepts was reviewed. Guidelines for implementers, and research and policy recommendations were also developed.

Document:  Travel Training for Public Transport 

NICHES+ was funded by DG Research under the 7FP, the project was allocated a fund of €1,237,078. NICHES+ ran from May 2008 until April 2011. The NICHES+ final conference took place on 7 April 2011 in London.

Want to keep up with the latest news? Visit the project's CORIDS page and TRIMIS page.