Find a TenderPast planning noticePreliminary market engagement notice
Published 17 Oct 2025, 16:16 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Central AVL system (CAVL) Pre Market Engagement

Official notice

Authority: Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (Local council)

ServicesBelow thresholdSME suitable
Planned pipeline value£0pipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected 28 Nov 2025from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 4 yrsends 31 Aug 2030 · starts 1 Sept 2026

What is being bought

Published requirement description

LCRCA is preparing for the introduction of bus franchising, starting in September 2026 with the full LCR bus network being franchised by the end of 2027, the LCRCA will directly manage network design, operational performance and operator payments. A Central AVL system (CAVL) is needed to act as the single source of truth for vehicle tracking, punctuality and network performance monitoring. The system will need to be fully tested and deployed prior to the end of May 2026

CAVL will consolidate data from multiple sources - including Electronic Ticket Machines (ETMs), on-bus static AVL units and SIRI feeds - to produce consistent and accurate real-time information for passenger systems and performance analytics for both LCRCA and operators.

The CAVL system will underpin the LCRCA's franchising and customer delivery framework. It must be cloud-based, secure and capable of handling data from all franchised operators, with configurable outputs for real-time information, punctuality and contractual performance.

Core functions include:

  • Punctuality monitoring - covering both start point (PM1) and intermediate points (PM2) as part of the bus franchising customer delivery framework.
  • Real-time monitoring of vehicle location (including live map), speed, headway, dwell time and journey times
  • Acting as the authoritative AVL data source for all franchised operators.
  • Managing disruptions and disruption messaging
  • Ingesting AVL data from both ETMs and static AVL units
  • Ensuring consistent GPS accuracy and refresh rates across operators.
  • Validating schedules using TXC files to identify early, late, on-time and missed mileage
  • Generating punctuality, reliability and Excess Waiting Time (EWT) KPIs.
  • Providing operator-specific access controls so that each operator can only view and report on its own data.
  • Offering open APIs and data feeds for integration with real-time passenger information systems and journey planners.
  • Delivering configurable dashboards and reporting tools for both operators and LCRCA.
  • Supporting integration with the future Contract Management and Payment Calculator System

Suppliers are invited to express their interest in receiving further details about this potential future procurement by opting in via the Proactis portal. As part of this engagement, suppliers should review the pre-market engagement brief and submit the requested information. In particular, we are seeking your views on how your systems could meet LCRCA's requirements, including:

  • Technical feasibility of your proposed solution
  • Deployment approach, with consideration for meeting delivery timescales
  • Ongoing support and maintenance arrangements

Your input will help shape the specification and ensure the procurement reflects market capability.

To respond to this pre market engagement please go to:

procontract.due-north.com ↗ if you are registered

or register at:

procontract.due-north.com/SupplierRegistration… ↗

You will then be able to search for the project name:

Central AVL system (CAVL) Pre Market Engagement

or the project reference number:

DN794680

You will then be able to follow the directions to register your interest and submit the requested.

CPV: Real time operating system software development services · Ticket-issuing machines · Transport equipment and auxiliary products to transportation · Vehicle-counting machines

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published

Procedure terms & legal framework

From the official record
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Procurement category
Services
Notice status
Past planning notice
Procurement threshold
Below threshold
Regulatory regime
Standard
Commercial structure
Stand-alone contract (no framework)
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
17 Oct 2025, 16:16 BST
Last source update
17 Oct 2025, 16:16 BST
Authority reference
DN794680
FTS notice number
2025/S 000-066461
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Real time operating system software development servicesTicket-issuing machinesTransport equipment and auxiliary products to transportationVehicle-counting machines
Delivery area
North West (UKD72)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05cf30 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

17 Oct 2025 → 1 Sept 2026 · 4 dates
  1. Planning notice published375 days ago
    17 Oct 2025, 16:16 BST
  2. Market engagement361 days ago
    31 Oct 2025, 23:59 GMT

    To respond to this pre market engagement please go to:

    procontract.due-north.com ↗ if you are registered

    or register at:

    procontract.due-north.com/SupplierRegistration… ↗

    You will then be able to search for the project name:

    Central AVL system (CAVL) Pre Market Engagement

    or the project reference number:

    DN794680

    You will then be able to follow the directions to register your interest and submit the requested.

  3. Tender notice expected333 days ago
    28 Nov 2025, 23:59 GMT
  4. Contract starts57 days ago
    1 Sept 2026, 00:00 BST

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    17 Oct 2025, 16:16 BST
    UK2

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Pipeline notice
Awards (0)
No award published
Contracts (0)
No contract published
Bid statistics
No aggregate bid statistics published

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

Liverpool City Region Combined Authority

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PNDZ-8253-CJJM 1 Mann Island, Liverpool, North West, L3 1BPContact email

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure