Bike/ebike Hire Scheme for MaaS Ebbsfleet

It is the Council’s intention to introduce a MaaS (Mobility as a Service) scheme in the Ebbsfleet Garden City area including Dartford & Gravesham town centres with an ambition to launch in early 2023. The Council is exploring the potential for a bike & ebike hire supplier to add further travel modes in the area and to engage and join the MaaS Consortium as preferred bike hire supplier & help inform the MaaS Outline Business Case. We wish to engage with the bike/ebike hire market to draw on supplier knowledge and expertise and bring in a new transport layer to the area. KCC is leading Kent’s MaaS Consortium and we believe that creating the MaaS Consortium and MaaS Ecosystem of lots of transport providers gives bike/ebike hire providers a new opportunity to enter the Kent market without KCC procuring bike/ebike hire providers services. KCC will be the owner of the new MaaS technology and owner of the MaaS data. As we aim to scale up MaaS to Kent and Medway this gives bike/ebike hire providers many other opportunities to establish bike/ebike hire across Kent over the following years. We would welcome discussion about bike/ebike hire providers entering the MaaS Ebbsfleet geographical area of Dartford, Gravesham and Ebbsfleet Garden City to provide a bike/ebike hire scheme for the public in the MaaS area without procurement from KCC as KCC are creating an amazing opportunity for bike/ebike hire providers by orchestrating the introduction of MaaS to Kent. The first stage will be funded by developers & Ebbsfleet Development Corporation within Eastern Quarry / Bluewater / Ebbsfleet International area to help kickstart the introduction of a new transport mode to the Ebbsfleet Garden City area. We expect Further phases to roll out to the Dartford and Gravesham district areas in the MaaS zone would be funded by the bike hire company or other developer funding. We are looking for interested providers to supply, install, maintain and operate the bike/ebike hire infrastructure in the MaaS Ebbsfleet area with their own investment plus kickstart funding from developers for Phase 1. Please refer to the Bike/eBike Market Engagement Pack for further information about the MaaS Ebbsfleet Project and the MaaS Consortium. Members of the MaaS Consortium would need to agree to a MaaS Code of Conduct agreeing to the MaaS principles of shared zero emission transport. The MaaS network must aim to meet objectives that are environmentally responsible, people-centred & socially inclusive. The bike/ebike hire provider would need to agree in principle to share their data through open API’s (Application Programming Interface) to integrate into the MaaS App and back office platform once KCC has procured the MaaS technology. If after the first year of MaaS operation is successful in Ebbsfleet, KCC envisaged that there may be potential to roll out MaaS across Kent & Medway during 2023 to 2025 therefore offering further opportunities for bike/ebike hire providers as part of the MaaS Consortium across Kent over the next few years. We would appreciate your feedback on this opportunity in the market engagement questionnaire. What to do next KCC are willing to sign an NDA to allow you comfort sharing sensitive information with us. A draft Non Disclosure Agreement is in the Market Engagement Pack. For a Bike/eBike Hire Market Engagement Pack with more information about our plans for MaaS Ebbsfleet, MaaS Zone maps, demographics of the area and bike/ebike hire market engagement questionnaire please contact Jacqui Elliott, Public Transport Project Manager and lead for MaaS in Kent.jacqui.elliott@kent.gov.uk or call 03000 314616 Please respond to the market engagement questionnaire by providing your written response directly to Jacqui Elliott at the above email address by COP Tues 25th May 21.