Last week, Hubert Andela, director of Royal Dutch Transport, sent a letter to the members of the Council and Mayors and Aldermen of the municipalities of the Gooi & Vecht region.
Andela states, on behalf of KNV, that many assumptions in the feasibility study of the establishment of a municipal transport organization are very optimistic and there is often no objective substantiation.
Not a sensible response to procurement procedures.
In summary, the message is that the feasibility study on which the municipality of Amsterdam based its intention to tender is far too optimistic and that setting up a municipal transport organization is not a sensible response to tendering procedures that have not gone according to the wishes of your municipalities.
For example, there is no reason to assume that coordinating school times and opening hours of day care will be easier if the carrier is an official organization.
According to KNV, there is also no reason to assume that combining different types of travelers (WMO indicated, pupils, residents of care institutions, etc.) by definition becomes easier if the transport is done by a municipal organization. Clients then still have specific characteristics and transportation needs that can hinder combination.
An official organization will not be able to reject the special wishes of WMOs and parents of pupils more easily, but less easily than a regular contracted carrier. After all, wishes and complaints arrive at the municipalities or the municipal transport organization and - disrespectfully said - 'hiding behind a long-term contract with a carrier' is then more difficult.
Transport budgets too tight.
Transport will certainly not be able to be carried out with the same budget, as the study assumes. Transport budgets have been too small in many transport areas in recent years due to contract prices that were too low. Transport is therefore expected to become slightly more expensive right from the start of the municipal transport organization.
Over time, the transport will become even more expensive, because the municipal transport organization will be irrevocably inclined to optimize for 'no complaints', instead of 'performing as cost-consciously as possible within the contracted rates'.
Procurement Institute Mobility (AIM).
The board of the KNV Zorgtransport and Taxi association also points out that the Mobility Procurement Institute (AIM), which they set up as KNV together with the trade unions FNV and CNV, can provide advice on (drawing up) transport specifications. There is also the CROW, which advises local governments on the purchase of services. The advice is often based on 'best practice'. So there are ways in which a contracting authority can be helped to ensure that the procurement of target group transport proceeds as desired.
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