Tendering sustainable Public Transport in the region of Utrecht, the Netherlands
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About this good practice
By tendering the entire concession for public transport to a private transport operator, the province gets value for money. A high value at a market rate.
Resources needed
In addition to the regular work for the province to prepare a concession, the extra costs for the changes to a larger number of ebuses amounted to 1.5 FTE for 1.5 years and an extra implementation budget amounted to 9 million euros.
Evidence of success
The operator wants to earn a reasonable profit margin on the public transport, while the authority wants to fulfill certain public policy goals. The tendering process is where these two come together. It is a strong mechanism to get the best value for money out of the market. For example the most public transport, or the highest number of ebuses running in the area, within the available budget of the public transport authority.
Potential for learning or transfer
Challenges encountered:
The challenge is to support the private transport operators to find funding for the purchase of the ebuses in times of less possible public transport because of safety measures for Corona. One of the options is providing a bus loan from the province to the private transport operator.
Potential for learning or transfer:
This way of tendering is a consideration for regions when the plan to tender the concession for public transport by ebuses. They can either choose whether to tender the ebuses and e-infrastructure themselves and thus become the owner of the ebuses and e-infrastructure or to entrust those tasks to a private company. By doing the latter, it allows them to monitor all qualitative requirements themselves and also to achieve a high quality-price ratio through market forces.