The introduction of quality issues in transport operation tenders has been in several countries an innovative and important approach, which public authorities are trying to integrate in contracts with economical and service related consequences. Normally price and quality follow different directions, but in some cases both can be improved for both the public authorities and the final clients. This paper makes firstly a theoretical approach on quality in transport contracts based in European directives and studies, followed by a brief description of European standards related to quality in transport. As a main issue the publication of the EN13816 in 2003 regarding transportation, logistics and services will be highlighted. Finally the paper will discuss the results and conclusions of the analysis made on the terms of reference of transport operation tenders (basically urban transport) published in Spain during the last 5 years, in order to know how quality and other important factors are being treated in the real world. For the covering abstract please see ITRD E135207.
Samenvatting