Park & Ride Bus Service - Portsmouth

Concepts

• portsmouth
• buses and coaches
• additional service options
• ride bus services
• service coverage
• optional seasonal services
• contract service commencement - 1st
• park
• bus
• ride

Location

PORTSMOUTH

Description

Portsmouth City Council - the 'council' - is inviting tenders from suitably qualified and experienced operators for the delivery of park & ride bus services. The dedicated Park & Ride terminal located adjacent to the M275 at Tipner was opened in 2014 and currently has 665 car parking spaces. It provides a frequent, quick, high-quality bus link between the Park & Ride site and the city. Further information in respect of the park & ride facilities, schedules and ticketing options can be found on the website via the link below: https://parkandride.portsmouth.gov.uk/facilities.shtml Tickets are provided by the council through an off- bus ticket machine or via a smart card or other routes. The tickets are on a fixed price scheme for a number of occupants in the car. This will also apply to the new arrangements which are the subject of this procurement whereby the successful operator will be paid a fixed agreed amount for running the service and not required to provide an on-bus ticketing option. The council will continue to take demand risk but will expect the operator to work in partnership to identify and implement initiatives which increase sales, improve the service and reduce costs over the term of the contract. The council is seeking to address financial, service and environmental objectives and consider options through the procurement process in respect of service coverage, financial and environmental objectives. In order to investigate these options and enable the council to arrive at a fully informed market tested decision tenders will be invited against a range of Lots and Sub-Lots, being: Lot 1 - Dedicated Service - Euro 6 Vehicles • Lot 1A - Current Service Schedule & Frequencies • Lot 1B - Reduced Service Schedule & Frequencies Lot 2 - Dedicated Service - Fully Electric Service • Lot 2A - Current Service Schedule & Frequencies • Lot 2B - Reduced Service Schedule & Frequencies Lot 3 - Hybrid Service - Euro 6 Vehicles as Minimum • Lot 3A - Current Service Schedule & Frequencies as minimum Tenderers have the option of tendering for one, all or any combination of Lot and Sub-Lot options. Each Lot and Sub-Lot will be evaluated separately. In respect of Lot 3 Tenderers have the option of submitting up to 3 bid proposals for consideration. The Council will then review the options and award the contract to the highest ranking tenderer for the Lot and associated Sub-Lot selected. Based upon current operations which align with option Lot 1A the council estimates the value of the contract to be approximately £480,000 per annum. Whilst the council cannot provide an accurate forecast or guarantee of take up of optional seasonal services, extensions and ad-hoc services take up of these options could equate to a maximum further value of £100,000 per annum. Based upon the contract running for 8 years, full take up of additional service options and application of inflation the value of the contract could equate to approximately £5.1M. The council will run the procurement process in accordance with the 'Open Procedure' as set out within the Public Contracts Regulations (2015). The procurement programme is set out below: • Issue FTS Contract Notice - 6th May 2024 • Issue Tender Documents via In-tend - 6th May 2024 • Bidder Briefing (via teams) - 14th May 2024 12:00 - 13:00 • Request for Clarification Deadline - 28th May 12:00 • Tender Return Deadline - 7th June 2024 12:00 • Award Decision Notification - 5th July 2024 • Standstill Period Expiry - 15th July 2024 23:59 • Contract Award - 16th July 2024 • Contract Service Commencement - 1st September 2024 Application is via submission of completed tender by the deadline stated above via the Council's e-sourcing system In-tend, which is accessible via: https://intendhost.co.uk/portsmouthcc/aspx/home. The system will be used to administrate the procurement process in its entirety, guidance documentation is available via the link above.

Lot Division

CPV Codes

• 60172000 - Hire of buses and coaches with driver
• 60112000 - Public road transport services
• 60170000 - Hire of passenger transport vehicles with driver

Indicators

• Restrictions apply to the lot award allocation.
• Bids should cover one or more lots.
• Bids should cover the whole contract.
• This is a recurring contract.
• Professional qualifications are sought.
• Award on basis of price and quality.

Other Information

In addition the Park & Ride facility has also been used to run services to meet demand from events such as the Great South Run, Portsmouth Pride and Victorious Festival. Since 2021 the council has also operated a summer service - the PR3 - operating between the Park & Ride site and Southsea. It runs every 30 minutes using two vehicles. This has run for 3 years, increasing in popularity each year. In 2023, the service ran on weekends and bank holidays between 27 May and 16 July, then daily between 22 July and 3 September. The Council has also provided a Christmas service operating between the Park & Ride site and Southsea on both Saturday and Sunday. The Saturday service runs on a 20 minute frequency and the Sunday service runs on a 10 minute frequency. The additional services referred to above are not within the scope of the current contract but will be included for within this procurement as optional extras which the council may utilise at its discretion. Whilst the council cannot provide an accurate forecast or guarantee of take up of optional seasonal service extensions and ad-hoc services this could equate to an additional maximum value of £100,000 per annum, again exclusive of VAT. Over the maximum 8 year term of the contract with full take up of options and applying inflation at an upper estimate of 3% the value of the contract based upon a Lot 1A award could equate to approx. £5.1M excluding VAT.