The business is worth 900 million. And to conquer at least a part of it, a dozen business associations have already moved. They responded to a first, generic, expression of interest a few weeks ago. Now the Department of Transport is ready to publish the final tender, the one that on August 29 will put up for grabs about 52 million km of concessions for 9 years. The decrees that set the stakes were published on the eve of Ferragosto. One of the most important operations of this legislature has started.
In the last meeting of the council, councilor Alessandro Aricò approved the details of the tender. The main one is the one that redetermines, upwards, the tariffs. That is, the profit of the companies that will be awarded the routes. It goes from 1.12 euros per km to 1.62 euros per km. To cover the budget, the Region would therefore need to increase the current annual allocation, which is around 96, by 50 million. It is a necessary maneuver to make the market attractive and avoid some lots going deserted.
But the financial plan is also based on the savings that will come from the transformation of Ast. When the subsidiary becomes an in-house company, it will lose the 22 million contribution that it receives annually from Palazzo d’Orleans. And it will have to support itself only with the tariffs just determined, like all the other companies.
So 28 million remain to be found: 10 should come from the auction discounts foreseen in the tender. And therefore the last 18 million should be found in the regional budget.
But there is a clause in the tender that allows the Region to reduce the budget for the companies by 20%. In turn, the companies will be able to reduce the number of trips.
The tender confirms the division of the tender into four lots. The first is the one that ensures connections within and between the provinces of Palermo and Trapani and guarantees a portfolio of 13,794,400 km per year. The second concerns Catania, Siracusa and Ragusa (10,259,863 km). The third concerns the province of Messina alone (9.9 million km) and the last is the one for Agrigento, Caltanissetta and Enna (18.9 million km).
Each lot is divided into main bases (95) and secondary bases (68) that the companies will have the obligation to connect with frequencies that vary from 15 minutes to a few hours. The assignment of urban connections is not foreseen, which Ast has always managed (but losing 5 million per year).
And here we come to the chapter of the plan that concerns the Sicilian Transport Company. By transforming itself into an in-house company, it will lose the regional contribution but will be able to obtain routes without going through a tender. The department plans to grant it 11 million 850 thousand km per year instead of the current 15.5 million. But this will allow the subsidiary to save all permanent employees and – according to the plan that Aricò analyzed – also to hire some people at a later time. Nothing is planned for temporary workers, the so-called temporary workers. Only some of the current routes will go to Ast, not all of them: the main part goes to the market.
The call for tenders scheduled for August 29 will indicate two criteria for assigning the scores of the tender and therefore identifying the winners: 30% is linked to the value of the discount, 70% to the quality of the offer. The tender should be carried out with the negotiated negotiation system: the Region will invite the companies (or better, the associations of companies) that have already come forward with the first notice in July to present a definitive offer and the evaluation will be based on that. From January 1, according to Aricò’s plan, the new concessions will come into force even if it cannot be excluded that a clause will be inserted that freezes the entire old system until June, so as not to modify the connections intended for commuting students during the school year.
The old system is the one that counts 74 companies that divide 479 connection lines for a total of 62.2 million km per year. Now, however, everything changes in the name of efficiency and free market imposed by the EU to the Region. Premise for what should soon happen also for the seaside sector.