Public procurement notice: Voluntary Ex Ante Transparency Notice
Published: 2018-12-15
Buyer: Translink
Country: UK
Contract type: Services
Procedure: Negotiated without a prior call for competition
CPV classification: 48813000: Passenger information systems

Technical requirements: Translink intends to award a contract to Mentz Datenverarbeitung GMBH using the Negotiated Procedure without a Prior Call for Competition. This contract will be for continued development, maintenance and support of the existing Journey Planner system. Journey planning is an integral aspect of the commercial digital offering. It is at the core of wider passenger information including the customer contact centre, the Translink app and real time information provision. Customers currently visit the website or use the app to plan journeys, check fares and can buy a limited range of tickets.
It is Translink's intention to directly award a contract for support and maintenance of the Journey Planner System for a period of 3 years, at an estimated value of 860 000 GBP, in order to deliver the following requirements:
1) Functional maintenance and other developments to the background system (circa 90 % of overall requirement). Only Mentz can undertake this work on the basis of intellectual property rights ownership;
2) Updates (less than 10 % of the overall requirement). To be supplied by Mentz in return for payment of a license fee;
3) Support (less than 5 %). Translink handle the majority of the support in-house and have an in-house super user for trouble shooting, problem solving and bug fixing;
4) Customisation and “front end” (less than 5 %). Translink's requirements in this regard are limited.
The Translink customer information system, referred to as the Journey Planner system was procured under OJEU and launched in March 2013.
In line with Translink’s information and data management policy, Translink have successfully leveraged this customer information platform as a single source for customer information services that Translink provide.
As such this system powers the contact centre enquiries system, the Translink_NI app, generates all automated print products and is heavily integrated with the Translink website for the online journey planner, next service/real time look-up, and customer information departure screens across the whole of the Ulsterbus network.
Within a continuous improvement environment significant developments have been delivered to integrate richer data (e.g. TransXchange, real time and fares), provide customer experience rich features, and achieve reach across customers’ preferred channels.
The system also supports provision of standardised data sets to meet google GTFS standards (for Translink services to be used in Google Transit) and to support the provision of Translink data to open data NI portal.
Journey Planner system has been developed to a stage where it has become entirely integrated in almost all aspects of Translink’s essential operations. The current supplier supports the database/data integration engine (DIVA) that forms the core of Journey Planner and a range of applications, interfaces and data exchange licences.
The Regulations, together with other obligations imposed upon utilities such as Translink by European and UK procurement law, do not require Translink to eliminate every possible advantage an economic operator has, and to always competitively tender all its requirements in all circumstances. Procurement law requires that, where a utility needs to purchase something, it procures that requirement in a manner that fosters competition in accordance with the principles set out in the Regulations and associated case law. It does not dictate that a utility fundamentally changes its requirements or specifications in order merely to ensure that there is potential competition in relation to an existing need, in a manner that perhaps does not make commercial or operational sense or secure best value for money.
Where a utility owns or has a licence to a product (in this case, the licences to the Journey Planner software) which it is happy with and which meets its functional requirements, procurement law does not de facto oblige a utility to cease using that product and procure something which does not meet its needs, or in a manner which is unsuitable to meet its requirements. Nor does it, in itself, impose an obligation to hold a competitive process for an entirely new or different product (which will incur time and cost on the part of both the utility and bidding entities), if that product is not required. Whilst procurement law requires that, where a contract expires, continued service provision (whether by the same or a new contractor) is procured in a manner that complies with procurement law; it does not require the utility to also cease using any underlying product that it has continued rights to use, or owns merely to ensure a competitive process is adopted (as in the current scenario where Translink has perpetual licences to use the Journey Planner product).
Licenses have been procured for the range of features/services including relevant data imports and exports. The licenses are owned by Translink (are perpetual) and Translink only incur recurring support/maintenance costs on these. Mentz therefore are contracted annually only to maintain, support and develop or customise the licensed products owned by Translink. The current contract was awarded in January 2017 until 31.12.2019.


Winner: Mentz Datenverarbeitung GMBH