Public-service buses

Tender description

The University of Bristol (‘University’) is seeking tenders for the provision of public bus services between the main University Campus in Clifton, Bristol and outlying sites. The University will select one operator for the services from this procurement process. The University entered into tri-party agreement with the University of the West of England (UWE) and a bus services operator in 2011. This followed a successful U6 bus service pilot in 2010/2011. The Service 16 became a standalone/singular service in September 2014. The contract period for the provision of the current Service 16 ends on the 31.8.2017, therefore the University wishes to re-tender the Service. The Service 16 operates between the Stoke Bishop Transport Hub and the City Centre, via the University Precinct. The service currently has a Peak Vehicle Requirement of eight and operates between 8:00 and +4:30 Mon — Sat and 10 — 19:00 Sunday. A smartcard system was introduced in 2010 along with a point of sales unit at the University. The Service transported 812,000 passengers in 2014/2015 (a 197 % increase since 2010/2011) and it is estimated that 90 % of passenger journeys are made by students. The University aims to provide a high quality transport service for students and staff to travel to their place of study or work as well as high quality transport service to support the Bristol Transport network and benefit not non-university staff or students. This opportunity is being procured by the University as an open procedure for the purposes of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (‘Regulations’). Operators wishing to express an interest in/tender for this opportunity should download, complete and return the tender submission from the website address in section I.3 above. A summary of the scope of this contract is included with the procurement documentation.