(24 Aug 2023, 6:23 pm)Adrian wrote I'm a bit confused by your final paragraph, as what you suggest with everyone entering bids with 'massive double digit % margins', would surely amount to price fixing? I'd envisage (and hope!) that we'd have a competitive process, whereby we end up with operators that genuinely want to deliver a good service on their routes. If not, then I think it furthers the argument to get the ban on municipal bus operators removed from law.
What I was trying to articulate was that operators will still bid as competitive as they can and normally there are more suppliers than opportunities, which generally means the most competitive price wins.
However, I fear in this case, there will be more opportunities (or lots/required PVR), than suppliers, which means irrespective of the prices, the authority will likely need to agree to all prices quoted from all suppliers to cover all work and could result in some simply putting in massive prices as they know they will be awarded something.