What is NICHES+?

The mission of NICHES+ is 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.

The project looks into the details of 12 innovative measures, structured in 4 thematic areas:

Innovative concepts to enhance accessibility

Improved Accessibility through information and orientation

Travel training and personal assistance

Improving accessibility an neighbourhood level

Concepts for Efficient Planning and Use of Infrastructure and Interchanges

Enhanced city functions of interchanges

Coordination measures to enhance the transport function of interchanges

Infrastructure for innovative bus systems

Urban Traffic Management Centres

Mobile information services linked to Urban Traffic Management Centers

Environmental monitoring linked to urban traffic management centers

Public Private Partnerships for Urban Traffic Management Center deployment

Automated and Space Efficient Transport Systems

Cybernetic transport systems

Personal Rapid transit

High-tech Buses, advanced vehicles and dualmode systems

NICHES+ builds further on the NICHES project, and is funded by the DG Research under the 7FP. It will run from May 2008 until April 2011.

Niches will involve 7 champion cities in the implementation of innovative concepts.

The NICHES+ consortium consists of EUROCITIES, Newcastle University, TRANSMAN, TRG, and Rupprecht Consult. The project is coordinated by Polis.