Tender: Establishment of West Midlands Dynamic Market for Franchised Bus Services

About

West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) is seeking suppliers for membership in a single-part Dynamic Market to procure franchised bus services and associated services as part of its bus franchising programme transferring the West Midlands network from a deregulated system into public control. Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) will specify routes, service standards and operational requirements and will competitively procure public service bus contracts covering provision of franchised services to timetables and specifications, drivers and operational staff, vehicle and depot maintenance and cleaning, integration with WMCA/TfWM network management, traffic control and customer-facing systems, integration with WMCA IT, data, performance, ticketing and revenue systems, and contract performance management. Contracts will be performed mainly within the WMCA franchising regions, may be aggregated across three tranches with an initial term(s) aggregate value of up to £1,560,000,000, and will involve use of WMCA-provided depots and WMCA-provided fleet including zero emission vehicles. The Dynamic Market is anticipated to operate for an initial period of 13 years with options for extension or reduction, will remain open to new applications throughout its term, and will issue ITTs in three indicative tranches (Tranche 1 – 17 August 2026; Tranche 2 – from March 2027; Tranche 3 – from October 2027). Applications to join the Dynamic Market must be submitted electronically via the WMCA ProActis e-tendering portal using the Dynamic Market Questionnaire (Appendix B to the Invitation to Apply for Membership) and participation in procurements is limited to admitted Members; for Tranche 1 the application cut-off is 12:00 BST on 31 July 2026. Contracts will be awarded using the competitive flexible procedure under the Procurement Act 2023 and, as a qualifying utilities dynamic market established under section 40 of that Act, individual procurements will not be published via the central digital platform and ITT documents will be issued only to Members.