Posts by Rachel Hughes

Introduction When I teach contract management for the UITP Academy, there is one slide that stops the room every time which comes from an UITP report. Five boxes, arranged left to right, from a transport authority running everything itself to a private operator answering to nobody but the market. Every participant, wherever they are from,…

Introduction Winning a public transport or public sector contract starts long before anyone writes a word. It starts with having the right team, the right structure, and a clear understanding of the evaluation criteria. This guide covers exactly that: how to build a bid team that is organised, accountable, and capable of producing a submission…

Winning a public transport contract is a milestone. But the award letter is not the finish line — it is the starting gun for one of the most demanding phases of the entire contract: mobilisation. Mobilisation is the period between contract award and the first day of live service, when an incoming operator turns a…

Key takeaways: What decision-makers need to know about demand responsive transport (DRT) From my 18 years of experience, one pattern I see repeatedly is that demand responsive transport gets either oversold as a cure-all or dismissed as too complicated to be worth the effort. Neither position serves the authorities and operators who are trying to…

Introduction If you have ever tried to manage a transport tender using tools built for construction or generic procurement workflows, you will know the frustration. The page counts are wrong, the templates do not reflect operator-specific requirements, and the software assumes a procurement process that bears little resemblance to how a public transport ITT actually…

Introduction To attract and promote use of public transport, Transport (or transport) oriented development (TOD) represents one of the most significant strategic opportunities available today. Yet many operators struggle to understand how TOD fits within their urban development strategy, how to capture the value it creates, or how to embed it credibly within their business.…

Bidding for public transport contracts with the UK Government is a structured, highly regulated process — and one where small mistakes can have disproportionate consequences. Many capable organisations struggle not because their solution is weak, but because they misunderstand the process, underestimate the effort involved, or misinterpret what the authority is asking for. This guide…

Public transport operators, local authorities and suppliers are entering a period of significant change, and many are unsure how to adapt. This guide has been created to help you cut through the complexity of the Procurement Act 2023 overview, understand what the new rules mean in practice, and give you confidence that you can meet…

Introduction Writing a tender proposal for public transport contracts can feel overwhelming, particularly when navigating the public procurement process and its complex compliance rules, evaluation criteria, and submission requirements.  This guide provides step-by-step advice on how to plan, write, and review a successful transport sector contract submission. It will walk you through best practices in…

Who should read this guide (and what you’ll learn) This guide is designed for public transport operators, infrastructure contractors, sustainability managers, commercial directors and policy leaders working in, or supplying to, the UK, Ireland, EU, and MENA transport sectors. It provides an essential reference for those preparing bids, managing procurement, or leading sustainable mobility strategies.…