Future opportunity

A demand responsive transport service for residents south of Swaffham and an online application for scheduling and booking

  • Norfolk County Council

F01: Prior information notice (prior information only)

Notice reference: 2021/S 000-010620

Published 14 May 2021, 9:01am



Section one: Contracting authority

one.1) Name and addresses

Norfolk County Council

County Hall, Martineau Lane

Norwich

NR1 2SG

Contact

Ian Hydes

Email

ptprocurement@norfolk.gov.uk

Country

United Kingdom

NUTS code

UKH17 - Breckland and South Norfolk

Internet address(es)

Main address

www.norfolk.gov.uk

Buyer's address

http://In-Tendhost.co.uk/norfolkcc

one.3) Communication

Additional information can be obtained from the above-mentioned address

one.4) Type of the contracting authority

Regional or local authority

one.5) Main activity

General public services


Section two: Object

two.1) Scope of the procurement

two.1.1) Title

A demand responsive transport service for residents south of Swaffham and an online application for scheduling and booking

Reference number

NCCT42190

two.1.2) Main CPV code

  • 60112000 - Public road transport services

two.1.3) Type of contract

Services

two.1.4) Short description

Norfolk County Council wishes to procure a fully digitised demand responsive transport service, with automatic and optimised route scheduling, for residents south of the market town of Swaffham in west Norfolk, to access services in the town and beyond. The proposed transport service will cover an area of approximately 85 square miles, 7000+ residents and over 20 villages and hamlets, to improve accessibility and connectivity. The service is expected to run from 0700 – 1900, Monday to Saturday.The Council also wishes to procure an online application for the provider to plan the journeys and for passengers to book and pay for their journeys.

two.1.6) Information about lots

This contract is divided into lots: Yes

two.2) Description

two.2.1) Title

Demand responsive transport service

Lot No

1

two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)

  • 60112000 - Public road transport services

two.2.3) Place of performance

NUTS codes
  • UKH17 - Breckland and South Norfolk

two.2.4) Description of the procurement

Norfolk County Council wishes to procure a fully digitised demand responsive transport service, with automatic and optimised route scheduling, for residents south of the market town of Swaffham in west Norfolk, to access services in the town and beyond. The proposed transport service will cover an area of approximately 85 square miles, 7000+ residents and over 20 villages and hamlets, to improve accessibility and connectivity. The service is expected to run from 0700 – 1900, Monday to Saturday.The service will require different booking options and the service provider will need to offer a telephone booking service and accept online bookings via the application in Lot 2.There is funding available for a vehicle, which could be procured by the provider or by the Council. The contract will be awarded for 4 years, which is the length of the trial for which we have been allocated DfT funding, with an option to extend to 8 years. It is expected that the successful bidder will engage with Norfolk County Council and local stakeholders to endeavour to make the service commercially sustainable after this 4 year period The service start is provisionally set at Jan 2022. We would like to discuss this opportunity with operators via a 1-2-1 Teams meeting before we finalise the specification. Please contact Sean Asplin via email (sean.asplin@norfolk.go.uk) by noon on Wednesday 26 May if you would like to meet with us providing the email addresses of your attendees and their availability w/c 7 June 2021.

two.2) Description

two.2.1) Title

Online transport application to plan journeys and take bookings and payments

Lot No

2

two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)

  • 48000000 - Software package and information systems
  • 48813000 - Passenger information system
  • 48332000 - Scheduling software package

two.2.3) Place of performance

NUTS codes
  • UKH17 - Breckland and South Norfolk

two.2.4) Description of the procurement

Norfolk County Council is seeking to award a contract for an online application to support the demand response transport service in the Swaffham area. The application should already be commercially available with an established customer base (we are not seeking to procure any software development).The solution should include functionality to:(1) manage the operation of the service (e.g. managing key stop and road information);(2) allow passengers to plan, book, update and pay for journeys in advance (one-off and regular journeys) and indicate any special requirements (e.g. wheel chair user, specific time requirements); (3) offer a range of ticket options; (4) provide comprehensive information to the passenger on their booking (e.g. pick-up time, delays) via the app and SMS;(5) provide dynamic dispatch and routing to optimise the service based on bookings received and using real-time information on traffic and connecting services;(6) allow the driver to log on/off, access route and passenger information and contact passengers/operations staff.The solution should also be able to integrate with other information systems (e.g. other bus services and ticket machines of other operators) and have a reporting facility with the ability to download data for analysis in other tools.The main aim of offering this technology is to incentivise people to use the service so it needs to be easy to use. It must be able to run on a range of devices, which potential passengers may have.We would like to discuss this opportunity with potential apps providers before finalising the specification. If you would be interested in attending a 1-2-1 teams meeting w/c 7 June, please email sean.asplin@norfolk.gov.uk by noon on Wednesday 26 May providing the email addresses on your attendees and their availability. We would also be interested in seeing a short demo of your app.

two.3) Estimated date of publication of contract notice

7 July 2021


Section four. Procedure

four.1) Description

four.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)

The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: Yes


Section six. Complementary information

six.3) Additional information

Bus and Coach operators who have been accepted onto the Council's Dynamic Purchasing System for Passenger Transport Services NCCT41347 and who have expressed an interest in receiving opportunities for local bus services will be automatically added to any tender issued for the operation of the Local bus service unless they advise us that they do not wish to receive the documents.