Planning

Ask AI about this notice

Summarise, research or assess it with AI

View Markdown

Share this notice

Send this contract to a colleague

DfT - Scan of Streets - Request for Information

THE DEPARTMENT FOR TRANSPORT

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Planning

22 Sep 2026 at 12:48

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The Department for Transport is exploring services to create, acquire, license or steward a nationally consistent digital representation of England’s road network. The intended baseline would support Digital Traffic Regulation Orders and wider transport data uses, including road condition assessment, highway asset management, accessibility, bus infrastructure, freight routing, bridge-strike prevention, road safety, geospatial improvement, digital twins and future transport technologies. The work could involve national surveys, existing commercial or public datasets, data derived from imagery and sensors, or a hybrid approach. Relevant capabilities include digital mapping, data capture and collection, data analysis, data supply and data management. The geographic scope is England, with consideration of strategic, local, urban, rural, private, restricted-access and unadopted roads. The Department for Transport is the buying organisation.

This procurement is at the planning and preliminary market-engagement stage. The current exercise is a Request for Information, not a call for competition, and is intended to inform a future procurement and delivery strategy. The Department for Transport expects to consider routes including Transport Technology framework lots 1, 2, 7a and 7c, and the Spark Dynamic Purchasing System. Indicative dates are publication and the start of clarification on 22 September 2026, clarification closing at 16:00 on 1 October, responses to clarification questions by 5 October, and RFI responses by 16:00 on 9 October. Analysis is planned for 12–16 October, with next steps in the week commencing 19 October and a possible supplier event in the week commencing 2 November. A future notice is expected on 1 December 2026. The planned contract period is 11 January 2027 to 22 December 2028. One lot is being considered, and the opportunity is identified as suitable for SMEs and VCSEs.

This engagement will suit suppliers preparing to shape a future national road-network data requirement rather than bidding for a contract now. DfT is seeking evidence from organisations with national, regional or local-authority road surveys; highway asset, road-condition, traffic-management, geospatial or transport-infrastructure datasets; and experience creating, licensing, hosting or stewarding data. Useful technical capability includes imagery, video, LiDAR, point clouds and other sensors; AI-enabled extraction of road features; accuracy assessment, validation, quality assurance and confidence scoring; recognised road-condition, geospatial, data or interoperability standards; secure hosting, APIs, bulk downloads and public-sector data sharing. Experience with government, local authorities, National Highways or transport bodies will be relevant, as will consortium delivery. Respondents should be able to address coverage, refresh cycles, ownership, licensing, security, privacy, data protection, anonymisation, redaction, reprocessing rights, lock-in, social value and indicative cost drivers.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

DfT - Scan of Streets - Request for Information

Notice Description

The Department for Transport is seeking market insight into options for creating, acquiring, licensing or stewarding a nationally consistent digital representation of England's road network. The purpose of this RFI is to understand what data already exists, what could be collected or derived, what commercial and ownership models are available, and the likely costs, benefits and risks of different approaches. Suppliers are invited to respond on feasibility, existing work, commercial models, ownership and licensing, indicative cost drivers, standards, data quality, delivery timescales and wider innovation opportunities.

Planning Information

Category Description Start date 22 September 2026 Respond by 9th October 2026 Routes to market being considered Transport Technology (RM6347), Lots 1, 2, 7a & 7c & RM6094 (Spark DPS) Associated notice if applicable N/A The ask The Department for Transport is seeking market insight into options for creating, acquiring, licensing or stewarding a nationally consistent digital representation of England’s road network. The purpose of this RFI is to understand what data already exists, what could be collected or derived, what commercial and ownership models are available, and the likely costs, benefits and risks of different approaches. Suppliers are invited to respond on feasibility, existing work, commercial models, ownership and licensing, indicative cost drivers, standards, data quality, delivery timescales and wider innovation opportunities. RFI General conditions This is not a call for competition and there is no commitment. Any costs associated with producing a response to this RFI must be borne by the supplier. This RFI cannot be used as a down-selection. Responses must be made in good faith. Information provided through this RFI is indicative, subject to change and non-binding. DfT reserves the right not to proceed with any procurement as a result of this engagement. As part of their response suppliers shall identify the most appropriate route to market for this opportunity. Overview of requirement The Department for Transport is exploring options for establishing a nationally consistent digital baseline of England’s road network to support Digital Traffic Regulation Orders and wider transport data objectives. The initial driver for this work is the need to establish a reliable baseline for traffic restrictions and regulations across England. Traffic Regulation Orders are the local rules of the road, containing important information about things like yellow lines, parking rules and timings and speed limits. We’re also looking at expanding the service beyond what is contained in an order to allow people to record information about things like yellow box junctions and bridge heights. New TROs will increasingly be created and supplied digitally through D-TRO. However, a significant historic backlog of existing restrictions remains held by traffic authorities in a range of formats, including paper records, legacy systems, scanned documents and locally managed datasets. Requiring every authority to digitise this historic backlog individually could create substantial cost and administrative burden. DfT is therefore exploring whether a more efficient and strategically valuable approach could be adopted through national survey activity, existing commercial datasets, government datasets, or hybrid approaches. Early engagement has identified that the same underlying data, imagery or digital representation could potentially support a wider range of public sector use cases, including road condition, asset management, accessibility, bus infrastructure, freight routing, bridge strike prevention, road safety, geospatial data improvement, digital twins and future transport technologies. At this stage, DfT has not determined a preferred delivery model. The purpose of this RFI is to seek market insight on the most effective way to achieve the desired outcomes, including whether these are best delivered through a new national survey, licensing of existing data, a hybrid model, public sector stewardship, or another commercial and operational approach. Your requirement DfT seeks information from suppliers regarding the feasibility, cost, benefits and risks associated with the creation, acquisition, licensing or stewardship of a nationally consistent digital representation of England’s road network. Existing data availability • What relevant datasets already exist. • Geographic coverage and any gaps. • Currency and update frequency. • Data quality, provenance and reliability. • Applicable standards and assurance methods. • Existing ownership and licensing arrangements. Survey and collection options • Capability for national-scale data collection. • Use of imagery, video, LiDAR, point clouds and other sensor technologies. • Recommended coverage models and road types. • Accuracy levels and quality assurance approaches. • Approaches to capturing features consistently and clearly. • Recommended refresh cycles. Ownership and licensing models • Supplier-owned data models. • Government-owned data models. • Licensing arrangements for existing data. • Open data opportunities. • Local authority and wider public sector access. • Rights to reprocess source material in future. • Exit arrangements and supplier lock-in risks. Wider public sector value • Ability to support road condition assessment. • Highway asset management and operational decision-making. • Accessibility and inclusive transport applications. • Freight routing and bridge strike prevention. • Digital twins and future mobility. • Opportunities to collect once and use many times. Technical capabilities Suppliers should describe their capability and experience in the following areas: • National, regional or local authority road network surveys. • Highway asset, road condition, traffic management, geospatial or transport infrastructure datasets. • AI-enabled extraction of road assets and transport features from imagery or sensor data. • Quality assurance, accuracy assessment, validation and confidence scoring. • Working with recognised road condition, geospatial, data or interoperability standards. • Secure data hosting, APIs, bulk downloads and data sharing with public sector users. • Consortium or partnership delivery models where relevant. • Working with government, local authorities, National Highways or public sector transport bodies. Location / Geography The geographic scope under consideration is England’s road network. Suppliers should explain existing or achievable coverage, including differences across strategic roads, local roads, urban roads, rural roads, private roads, restricted-access roads and unadopted roads. Suppliers should also identify any coverage gaps, constraints or recommended exclusions. Key milestones and deliverables The purpose of this RFI is to inform DfT’s future procurement and delivery strategy. DfT expects RFI responses to provide evidence on feasibility, existing capability, data availability, commercial models, ownership options, indicative cost drivers, standards, risks and opportunities. Potential outputs from this RFI exercise may include: • A summary of market capability and maturity. • An assessment of existing datasets and coverage. • Evidence on survey, licensing, hybrid and stewardship models. • Indicative cost drivers and commercial considerations. • Information to support a future business case and procurement strategy. • Identification of potential supplier engagement or further market testing needs. Goods required / volumes No goods or services are being procured through this RFI. Suppliers are invited to provide indicative information on scale, volumes, coverage, delivery timescales and cost drivers for different options, including licensing existing data, commissioning new national collection, hybrid models, data hosting, ongoing refresh and future reprocessing of source material. Security and confidentiality requirements All information handling would need to follow DfT security guidelines. Suppliers should identify any security, privacy, confidentiality or data protection considerations associated with the collection, processing, storage and sharing of road network imagery, video, LiDAR, point clouds and derived datasets. Suppliers should also identify any restrictions associated with sensitive locations, critical infrastructure, personal data captured incidentally in imagery, anonymisation, redaction or onward sharing. Social value DfT is interested in how different approaches could deliver wider social value, including improved accessibility, reduced duplication for local authorities, better public sector data sharing, support for SMEs and innovation, environmental benefits from avoiding repeated surveys, and improved transport outcomes for users. Questions and Clarifications • Suppliers not currently registered on the DfT eSourcing platform should complete the registration process by following the guidance available on the platform’s entry page: https://dft.app.jaggaer.com/web/login.html • Enter your RFI response into DfT’s eSourcing portal: https://dft.app.jaggaer.com/web/login.html. Responses submitted by other means may be rejected. • Potential Providers may raise questions or seek clarification regarding any aspect of this RFI before the clarification deadline. Questions must be submitted via DfT’s eSourcing platform. • To ensure all Potential Providers have equal access to information, responses to clarification questions may be published to all parties who have expressed interest. Responses will not identify the originator of the question. • Not responding to this RFI will not necessarily restrict Potential Providers from submitting a bid in response to any future procurement. Please contact Jason Thrupp - jason.thrupp@dft.gov.uk to confirm interest and request access to the RFI DATE ACTIVITY 22 September 2026 Publication of the Request for Information 22 September 2026 Clarification period starts 01 October 2026 @16:00 Clarification period closes 05 October 2026 Deadline for publication of responses to clarification questions 09 October 2026 @ 16:00 Deadline for submission of RFI responses 12 October 2026 – 16 October 2026 Analysis of RFI responses W/C 19 October 2026 Confirm next steps to RFI respondents W/C 02 November 2026 Supplier event, if required

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-077770
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/089600-2026
Current Stage
Planning
All Stages
Planning

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Not Specified
Procurement Method Details
Not specified
Tender Suitability
SME, VCSE
Awardee Scale
Not specified

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

71 - Architectural, construction, engineering and inspection services

72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

CPV Codes

71354100 - Digital mapping services

72313000 - Data capture services

72314000 - Data collection and collation services

72316000 - Data analysis services

72319000 - Data supply services

72322000 - Data management services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
22 Sep 20262 weeks ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
1 Dec 20262 months to go
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
11 Jan 2027 - 22 Dec 2028 1-2 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Planning
Lots Status
Planning
Awards Status
Not Specified
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
THE DEPARTMENT FOR TRANSPORT
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
LONDON
Postcode
SW1P 4DR
Postcode Area
South West London
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLI London
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLI3 Inner London - West
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLI35 Westminster and City of London
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
Westminster
Electoral Ward
Vincent Square
Westminster Constituency
Cities of London and Westminster

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

JSON Markdown

The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.

Loading OCDS record...