Official UK procurement notice
On-Bus Technology for the South Yorkshire Franchised Bus Fleet - Preliminary Market Engagement
Authority: South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (Local council)
South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) is planning to buy on-bus technology to support bus franchising in South Yorkshire. The requirement covers Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL), Traffic Light Prioritisation (TLP) and Operational Communications (Radio), with Automatic Passenger Counting (APC) as a costed option; a Vehicle Edge Compute Gateway and systems integration; CCTV, including enforcement-grade CCTV; and Bridge Strike Prevention.
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionSouth Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) is planning to buy on-bus technology to support bus franchising in South Yorkshire. The requirement covers Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL), Traffic Light Prioritisation (TLP) and Operational Communications (Radio), with Automatic Passenger Counting (APC) as a costed option; a Vehicle Edge Compute Gateway and systems integration; CCTV, including enforcement-grade CCTV; and Bridge Strike Prevention. Each solution will be supplied, installed, integrated and supported across the franchised fleet of about 723 mixed single-deck and double-deck vehicles from several manufacturers, phased in from September 2027. SYMCA wants the market's views on the proposed lots, whether the draft requirements can be delivered, the APC option, timescales, and pricing models. To take part, please email Joanna Driscoll at [email protected] to request the engagement pack, which includes a questionnaire and a requirements response sheet. Please put "On-Bus Technology PME" in the subject line.
CPV: Global navigation and positioning systems (GPS or equivalent) · Information technology services · Installation services (except software) · Repair and maintenance services · Software package and information systems · Telecommunications equipment and supplies · Traffic-monitoring equipment · Video-surveillance system
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority buys Television and audio-visual equipment (CPV 3232), and who usually turns up
South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority’s published record next to the market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Television and audio-visual equipment (CPV 3232) →
How the contest usually goes
Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.
i
How often small and medium firms win.
Share of awards where the winner’s size is known.
The counts under this question show how many awards have a known supplier size.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.
i
How often local firms win similar work.
Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.
Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered. The market figure counts awards delivered in Yorkshire and the Humber.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered outside the region where that award was delivered.
i
How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the bid deadline to the award date, on competitions that published both.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards have an award date within 35 days of the bid deadline.
i
How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.
Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.
Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Direct awards or one recorded bid are common here. Check the route before spending time on a bid.
How many bids did past lots attract?
i
How many bids past lots received.
Each colour is a bid-count range. Only competed lots with a published count are included.
Past bids do not predict this tender.
1 bid4% / 18%
2–325% / 32%
4–636% / 32%
7+36% / 18%
How did awards compare with estimates?
i
Where winning prices landed against estimates.
Each colour shows awards below, close to or above the published estimate, one lot at a time.
Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.
Below estimate50% / 57%
Within ±2%45% / 24%
Above estimate5% / 19%
Assess each lot i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list
Lot #1CPV 3232Estimate not published
i
How many bids this lot may attract.
The forecast uses similar past competitions. The bar shows either that forecast or past bid counts; the line below says which.
Each lot shows its own forecast based on its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative. The bar shows 16 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid19%
2–325%
4–644%
7+13%
i
Where the award price may land.
The forecast uses similar awards and the buyer’s estimate. The band covers the middle half of likely prices.
No comparable awards for this lot yet.
A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.
Who has supplied this buyer on similar work? i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.
Who could compete for this lot? i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.
About this data
- Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly.
- Two views, kept apart. The authority’s own track record and the wider market for the same kind of work sit side by side and are never mixed. Where the local picture is too thin, a figure widens to a broader market and says which one it used.
- Forecasts are labelled. The price forecast and its range, possible competitors and the earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards: not published facts, not win chances and not price advice. Official notices do not say who is bidding.
- Every figure shows what it rests on. Not every notice publishes a bid count, a value or a delivery region, so each figure carries the number of records behind it, and one built on few records is marked as such. The on a figure explains it; the counting rules are in the methodology. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Goods
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- 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
- 3 Nov 2026, 12:51 GMT
- Last source update
- 3 Nov 2026, 12:51 GMT
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-104208- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-07968fFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
3 Nov 2026 → 1 Feb 2027 · 3 dates- Planning notice published9h ago3 Nov 2026, 12:51 GMT
- Today3 Nov 2026
- Market engagementin 14 days17 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) is carrying out preliminary market engagement before tendering for on-bus technology for the South Yorkshire franchised bus fleet. The fleet is about 723 single-deck and double-deck vehicles from several manufacturers, brought into service in three phases from September 2027.
We would like suppliers’ views on:
the proposed lots: Lot 1 AVL, Traffic Light Prioritisation and Operational Radio, with Automatic Passenger Counting (APC) as a costed option; Lot 2 Vehicle Edge Gateway and Systems Integration; Lot 3 CCTV; Lot 4 Bridge Strike Prevention
whether the draft requirements, particularly those marked Must, can be delivered
the APC costed option
integration, delivery timescales and installation
pricing models and indicative costs
How to take part: email Joanna Driscoll at [email protected] with “On-Bus Technology PME” in the subject line, saying which lots you are interested in. We will send you the engagement pack, which includes a questionnaire and a requirements response sheet. Completed responses should be emailed to the same address by the engagement deadline.
Supplier meetings: we will offer short online meetings of about 45 minutes, on dates to be confirmed, to any supplier who asks for one in their response. Every supplier who asks will be offered the same opportunity.
Clarification questions: please email any questions to the address above. Where an answer is relevant to everyone, we will share it with all suppliers who have asked for the pack, without saying who asked.
This engagement is for information only. It is not a call for competition and does not commit SYMCA to any procurement approach. Responses will not be evaluated, and taking part, or not taking part, will not affect a supplier’s ability to bid. Any information SYMCA shares during engagement will be shared with all participating suppliers. Suppliers will need to cover their own costs of taking part.
- Contract startsin 89 days1 Feb 2027
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published3 Nov 2026, 12:51 GMTUK2
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
Official documents & specifications (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender