Edinburgh Napier University

  This trans-European project was carrierd out in parts by Highland Council, the Transport Research Institute, Napier University and Newcastle University. It was part of the IST (Information Society Technologies) programme in the European Commission's Fifth Framework Programme. Our UK partners were Highland Council and Newcastle University. It was focused on Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) services for geographical areas or social groups where uneven, unpredictable demand exists (e.g. low density rural areas, elderly or disabled users, etc.). DRT is a hybrid between regular public transport and taxis. Users book trips and then a service centre builds routes in real time to serve this unplanned demand, as opposed to regular scheduled bus lines. It has the potential to provide economically sustainable transport solutions to fulfil these types of mobility needs. EMIRES seeks to combine the concepts of DRT with the provision of more sophisticated value added services based on the possibilities offered by a more efficient management of the information, improving viability. The strategic goal was the development and demonstration of a network of Regional Service Centres which offer personalised, dynamically generated, integrated packages of value added services to SMEs and individuals. It was to be carried out by a consortium including 6 Regions, 7 SME associations and 7 technological partners (3 industrials, 3 universities and 1 research institute). Geographically, the project included a network of 4 EU Objective 1 Regions and 1 Eastern European Region (in Spain, Greece, Finland, the Czech Republic and the Highlands in the UK).