Readybike Cycle Hire Scheme

Reading's cycle hire scheme, ReadyBike, was launched in June 2014 as part of the Local Sustainable Transport Fund programme. The scheme is made up of 200 bicycles, across 28 docking stations and 334 docking points located at key destinations, including Reading Station, University of Reading, Royal Berkshire Hospital and Thames Valley Business Park.

ReadyBike was launched to help achieve the target of encouraging an additional 2300 daily cycle trips and reducing congestion by approximately 10%. Feedback from users has highlighted the numerous benefits of the scheme, including breaking down barriers to cycling particularly where storage is an issue or to overcome perceived barriers to bicycle security.

The existing cycle hire scheme has facilitated almost 71,000 trips over approximately 315,000 miles to key employment, education, retail and leisure sites as well as major transport interchanges at Reading Station and Earley Station. The number of annual subscribers continues to grow steadily with trips by these users exceeding daily subscribers during colder months.

Reading Borough Council is seeking proposals from contractors that are able to continue delivering ReadyBike, under license from 1st September 2017 for a minimum term of 3 years and thereafter transferring to a rolling agreement with six months' notice by either party. The successful Contractor will be expected to work alongside the existing Contractor, Hourbike, during the mobilisation period, for up to one calendar month to ensure smooth transition between service providers.

Proposals will need to demonstrate a clear commitment to further developing the scheme to ensure the long-term success and sustainability of the service without any financial support from the Council, including but not limited to securing sponsorship and advertising agreements. Proposals including the relocation or reduction of the number of docking stations will be considered where there is clear evidence demonstrating that the changes will help ensure the scheme is self-financing throughout the duration of the contract and in the future.

Additional information: The procurement exercise will be conducted in accordance with the information contained in the procurement documents. The contracting authority does not bind itself to enter into any contract as a result of the publication of this notice and will not, under any circumstances, have any liability for any costs any person responding to this notice incurs in any part of the tender process.

The services are to be procured under an open procedure and organisations interested in expressing an interest should download the procurement documents which are available on the Council's e-tendering system at: https://in-tendhost.co.uk/readingbc (Project Reference No. RBC 00000288 refers), and complete as instructed. The Portal is free of charge - to register please follow the supplier registration guidance which is available on the Portal.

Contractors wishing to be considered for this tendering opportunity must complete the tender documents and return them electronically via the Council's e-tendering portal. The deadline for return of the tender is Monday 26th June 2017 at 12.00 hours.

Please note: you must register your interest via the Council's e-tendering portal if you intend to submit a tender. Interested parties must log onto the Council's e-tendering portal at: https://in-tendhost.co.uk/readingbc, to express an interest and download the procurement documents.

All communications regarding this procurement exercise will be conducted through the Council's e-tendering portal including requests for clarifications or general enquiries. The procurement documents will be available for download up until the closing time and date for tender submissions, it is the organisation's responsibility to ensure that they download the documents in ample time to ensure that they can be completed and returned electronically, along with supporting documents, prior to the closing time and date stipulated.

Before completing the tender, potential providers/suppliers should ensure that the e-mail address that has been used to register their organisation will be checked regularly as the Council's e-tendering system will generate automatic notifications to this e-mail address when there are updates, changes or messages sent relating to the project. Potential bidders should also check that their organisation's details are correct and kept up to date. Is a Recurrent Procurement Type? : No