The Development of Local Implementation Scenarios for Innovative Urban Transport Concepts: the NICHES+ Approach

NICHES+ was a FP7 coordination action funded by DG Research. The project aimed at stimulating a wide debate on innovative urban transport and mobility between relevant stakeholders from different sectors and disciplines across the EU and accession countries, in order to promote the most promising new concepts, initiatives and projects from their current “niche” position to a “mainstream” urban transport policy application.^pThe project explored 4 thematic areas: accessibility, efficiency of infrastructure and interchanges, traffic management centres, and automated and space efficient transport systems, embedded in an advanced spatial setting. In each of these areas, three innovative concepts were examined. The project elaborated real life implementation scenarios directly with local and regional authorities for the integration of one or more innovative concepts in existing urban transport policies. 6 Champion Cities were selected (Daventry - UK, Artois-Gohelle - FR, Worcestershire - UK, Cork - IE, Trondheim - NO and Burgos - ES). As key results, the project matched the selected champion cities with suitable NICHES+ concepts that could be implemented at the specific sites conducted a transferability analysis between donor cities that already had experience with the implementation of an innovative concept and the NICHES+ Champion Cities developed - in cooperation with selected stakeholders in the Champion Cities - concrete implementation plans for the uptake of innovative concepts encouraged the use of innovative planning and financing strategies in the implementation by providing tailored recommendations on these aspects.