Credit: Martijn van Exel/Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0

Transport for London is seeking a long-term IT services provider that can help the organisation save money, improve services, and invest in new technologies.

The public transport provider has issued a contract notice looking for a technology provider to deliver “service desk and desk-side support services”. This will include running the customer information screens and audiovisual equipment at bus stops and train stations across the capital, as well as tech for TfL’s meeting rooms.

In addition to delivering agreed performance levels and service improvements where required, the winning bidder will be expected to offer “recommendations [and] guidance on leveraging new technology and/or ways of working to further optimise TfL's core support services”.

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The contract, which is scheduled to commence in January 2020 and last for four years, will be worth up to £70m to the chosen provider. New services may be added to the scope of the contract over its lifespan.

These additional requirements could potentially include any service across “all the stages of service lifecycle, from inception [and] planning, through design, build, transition, operation, maintain, optimise and, ultimately, decommission”,

The transport authority picked out a number of key “drivers for change” for the coming years. Chief among these will be a planned shared services contract model that “is based on the principles of joint working, collaboration and co-operation, and which is designed to provide opportunities for TfL and the supplier to work together openly, delivering continuous product [and] service improvement and innovation”.

Other forces driving change will be a desire to improve services, cut costs, and implement industry best practice standards and tools, TfL said. 

Bids are open until 31 October.