The city of Nice is world-renowned for its glamour, cosmopolitanism and wealth, yet is significantly less well-known for being an environmentally conscious city. Although this may be about to be changed as Nice is on the fast track to become one of the ‘greenest’ cities in Europe.

Nice’s race to a more environmentally-friendly existence is led by a host of new transport initiatives, which will eventually provide some of the greenest forms of transport in Europe.

The plan is to inaugurate a central station in Saint Augustin by 2016. The station will operate a multi-functional tram, train and bus network for Nice and its vicinity. The station, which will provide extensive public transport to both the north and south of Nice, as well as along the coast to the west  to the Var Valley and the Nice Cote d’Azur airport – France’s second biggest airport – to a predicted 10 million passengers each year by 2023, and 17 million travellers annually by 2030.

Eventually the Saint Augustin site will be connected to the LGV, France’s high speed train network which was introduced in 2009.

The boom in infrastructure on the Cote d’Azur will help to develop business in the area, with both Nice and the surrounding areas predicted to receive an economic boost, as the new Saint Augustin station will provide links to all the major cities in France and therefore create masses of new commuters and revenue.

But in what ways will the new boost in infrastructure in Nice and its vicinity promote a more environmentally-conscious Cote d’Azur?

Well in having such an extensive, frequent and accessible public transport system, less people will be relying on cars to get them from A to B and therefore causing less carbon dioxide to be pumped into the atmosphere.

Cities across the world are increasingly attempting to make life for drivers more ‘difficult’ and life for public transport users easier, to promote greener and cleaner cities, and thanks to Nice’s new host of transport initiatives, the city looks on target for becoming significantly greener.

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