Student Bus Service

The University of Bristol's (University) current contract for Student Bus Services is due to expire in June 2017 and the University shortly intends to commence a procedure to re-tender the service. The current contracts have been in place since 2011 and comprise of the Service 16, with a Peak Vehicle Requirement (PVR) of eight, transporting 812k passengers in 2014/2015, chiefly acting as a bus service between the University's Halls of Residence at Stoke Bishop and the main Precinct in Clifton, but also acting as a public bus service. During the forthcoming contract, the University may seek to enhance the number of services to other University sites and key destinations in the city and surrounding area.

The University would like to invite interested providers to a Market Engagement session to help us to better understand the current market prior to commencing the new process. This session will involve giving a short presentation to key stakeholders from the University and their advisors.

Sessions will be held on either Tuesday 2nd August or Wednesday 3rd August 2016, and each individual session will last no longer than 1 hour and 15 minutes. Sessions will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.This notice is to advertise the University's intention to undertake soft market testing on its potential future bus service requirement(s). This notice is not a call for competition to procure any services, supplies or works for the University. The University is not obliged to follow up the soft market testing in any way or with any interested parties and it is not liable for any costs or expenses incurred by any party.

Interested parties will not be prejudiced by any response or failure to respond to the market testing. A response to the market testing does not guarantee any invitation to participate in this soft market testing exercise or any future public procurement process.Any procurement of any services by the University will be carried out in accordance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and/or Concession Contracts Regulations 2016.

The Contracting Authority intends to use an eTendering system in this procurement exercise and reserves the right to use a reverse auction