---
title: "TVCA-PROC-0952 - Connected and Autonomous Mobility (CAM) Technology Partner"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-078595"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-078595"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-078595.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-078595.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Planning"
buyer: "Tees Valley Combined Authority"
published: "2026-10-12"
---

# TVCA-PROC-0952 - Connected and Autonomous Mobility (CAM) Technology Partner

Buyer: Tees Valley Combined Authority  
Current stage: Planning  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-078595

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## Summary

Tees Valley Combined Authority is considering procuring a connected and automated mobility technology solution to introduce autonomous buses across the Tees Valley. The requirement falls within specialist transport vehicles and related technology. The solution is intended to enable buses to drive autonomously and interact with the digital, operational and infrastructure systems that support their operation. The authority is using pre-tender market engagement to understand supplier appetite and proposals, market capacity and delivery timescales, as well as risks, costs and other considerations. The engagement also gives potential suppliers a chance to raise questions and points for the authority to consider before deciding on a procurement. Suppliers working in autonomous transport, vehicle technology and the supporting systems are the most directly relevant.

This is a planning-stage process: the authority is undertaking pre-tender market engagement, not inviting bids for a contract. It expects to publish a subsequent notice around 14 December 2026. The engagement exercise set a clarification-question deadline of 19 October 2026 at noon and a submission deadline of 26 October 2026 at noon; these are dates for the market-engagement exercise, not a future tender deadline. The indicative contract period runs from 14 April 2027 to 31 March 2032. The estimated procurement value is £15 million excluding VAT (£18 million including VAT). The requirement is listed as one lot, covering the overall procurement. No award method or evaluation criteria have been set out at this stage.

This engagement is relevant to suppliers able to provide connected and automated mobility technology for autonomous bus operations, including the interfaces with supporting digital, operational and infrastructure systems. Vehicle manufacturers and specialist technology providers may wish to assess whether their proposed solution can meet the intended use and what delivery capacity it can offer. The authority is seeking market feedback on supplier appetite, the validity of supplier proposals, capacity and delivery timescales, potential risks, costs and practical considerations. Suppliers with experience integrating autonomous driving capability into transport operations are well placed to inform that assessment. This is an opportunity to shape the authority’s understanding before any potential procurement; the process has not yet reached a stage where suppliers can bid for the contract. The scale and multi-year nature of the planned service will suit businesses able to support a substantial deployment over an extended period.

## Notice

Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) seeks to engage the market through this Pre-Tender Market Engagement (PTME) exercise to inform the potential procurement of a supplier to provide a Connected and Automated Mobility (CAM) technology solution for the introduction of autonomous buses in the Tees Valley. For the purposes of this PTME, Connected and Automated Mobility (CAM) refers to transport technologies that enable vehicles to operate with automated driving capability and to interact with supporting digital, operational and infrastructure systems. Through this PTME, the Contracting Authority aims to: *Understand the market's appetite to be involved in the potential future procurement exercise; *Validate the supplier's proposal; *Understand the capacity of the market and timescales for delivery *Potential risks associated with the procurement *Understand opportunities, costs and considerations *Provide potential suppliers with an opportunity to raise queries and points of consideration in advance of any potential procurement exercise. For more information about this opportunity, please visit the Tees Valley portal at: https://teesvalley.delta-esourcing.com/tenders/UK-Darlington:-Specialist-vehicles./J2BY2F6XG4 To respond to this opportunity, please click here: https://teesvalley.delta-esourcing.com/respond/J2BY2F6XG4 If you experience any technical difficulties from accessing the above url, then please contact the Delta eSourcing Helpdesk on call 0800 923 9236 or email helpdesk@delta-esourcing.com.

### Planning Information

The table below outlines the key dates for this pre-tender market engagement exercise:
- Pre-tender market engagement clarification question deadline: Monday 19th October 2026, 12pm
- Pre-tender market engagement submission deadline: Monday 26th October 2026, 12pm
For more information about this opportunity, please visit the Tees Valley portal at: https://teesvalley.delta-esourcing.com/tenders/UK-Darlington:-Specialist-vehicles./J2BY2F6XG4
To respond to this opportunity, please click here: https://teesvalley.delta-esourcing.com/respond/J2BY2F6XG4
If you experience any technical difficulties from accessing the above url, then please contact the Delta eSourcing Helpdesk on call 0800 923 9236 or email helpdesk@delta-esourcing.com.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/096068-2026 |
| Notice type | UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Goods |
| Procurement method | Not Specified |
| Procurement method details | Not specified |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Not specified |
| All stages | Planning |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 12 Oct 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | 14 Dec 2026 |
| Award date | Not specified |
| Contract period | 14 Apr 2027 - 31 Mar 2032 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £15,000,000 |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Planning |
| Lots status | Planning |
| Awards status | Not specified |
| Contracts status | Not specified |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | Tees Valley Combined Authority |
| Locality | DARLINGTON |
| Postcode area | Darlington |
| Postcode | DL2 1NJ |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLC North East (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLC3 Tees Valley |
| ITL 3 | TLC33 Darlington |
| Local authority | Darlington |
| Electoral ward | Sadberge & Middleton St George |
| Westminster constituency | Stockton West |
| Delivery location | TLC1 Tees Valley and Durham |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 34 - Transport equipment and auxiliary products to transportation

### Codes

- 34114000 - Specialist vehicles

## Release History

- 12 Oct 2026 at 13:13 - PlanningUpdate - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/096068-2026
- 12 Oct 2026 at 13:02 - Planning - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/096053-2026

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/096068-2026
  12th October 2026 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/096053-2026
  12th October 2026 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender

## Notice URLs

- https://teesvalley.delta-esourcing.com/respond/J2BY2F6XG4
- https://teesvalley.delta-esourcing.com/tenders/UK-Darlington:-Specialist-vehicles./J2BY2F6XG4
- https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-078595. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-078595.json.