(4 hours ago)stagecoachbusdepot wrote Unless I am reading it wrong, when you look at the contract award values compare to the estimated values on the Tender Notice, and indeed the total value (>£4m awarded compared to stated budget of <£3m) I'd say all of the operators appear to have factored in monumental fuel price hikes and then some (or Nexus were wildly inccurate in their estimates across the board, or have made a large error in one or other set of numbers). From what I can see, the overall cost is >40% higher than the advertised Tender amount. Which as I say unless I am missing something is pretty dubious process in terms of such a huge variance from the advertised amount; not to mention where have Nexus found the additional >£1m from to fund these inflated awards?
The L&G lot award values in particular are huge compared to the estimated amounts - in some cases almost quadruple. Though all three lots awarded to L&G are for the exact same amount despite differnt underlying estimates so this may well be an error on Nexus' part.
The three contracts which encompass services 99 and 939 were part of a group bid (for a total of £97k), so Nexus has actually saved >£50k compared to what they currently pay for the same three contracts with Northstar and Go North East - suggests, if anything, that these contracts may have been under-priced (as bus operators work on much smaller margins than that!)
In most cases, other contracts are largely at the same prices as last year (or just a few % higher).
No operator looks to have factored in a price hike for diesel.
