Contract for Local Bus Service and other Public Transport Service 2017

This procurement is for a number of local bus services within County Durham. Some of these contracts are for services that operate a whole day Monday to Friday or Monday to Saturday. In other cases the contracts are for journeys only operating on Monday to Saturday evenings, supplementing journeys operating on the same route on a commercial basis at other times of the day which do not form part of this contract. Some contracts are for services operating at peak times only. There are also in a small number of cases journeys that operate primarily for school travel purposes; special conditions will apply to those journeys.

Most of the contracts will require buses with a minimum of 16 seats, however a larger vehicle could be used, unless where specifically stated. The vehicles required for these contracts will need to be wheelchair accessible, unless stated in the specification.

The contracts will operate on a cost-based agreement under which fares revenue belongs to Durham County Council. The contractor will be paid a fixed price per day and so does not bear any risk related to revenue.

This procurement is issued under an Open OJEU Procedure under Section 7 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 It is to be noted that Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE) WILL apply in relation to this procurement exercise in relation to routes 3626, 3636, 3647, 3652, 3654, 3661. 3663 and 3681.(Please refer to ANNEX x for TUPE information).