June 23, 1998

 To:Budget Committee

 From:Commissioner, Corporate Services

 Subject:Fleet Vehicles Use and Toronto Police Services Vehicle Practices

 Purpose:

 To respond to the Budget Committee's request to review with the Police Service the rotation and the possibility of rebuilding police vehicles for the purpose of extending their useful life, to review with departments the need and reason for taking home or leasing of vehicles and to conduct a fleet review starting with light vehicles.

 Funding Sources, Financial Implications and Impact Statement:

 N/A

 Recommendation:

 It is recommended that this report be received for information.

 Council Reference/Background/History:

 On March 11, 1998, the Budget Committee requested the:

1. Commissioner of Corporate Services to review with the Toronto Police Service the possibility of rebuilding police vehicles to extend the life of those vehicles;
2. Toronto Police Service to rotate its vehicles from now on and that the Commissioner of Corporate Services convene a meeting with the Toronto Police Service to discuss how they are going to rotate these cars on a more aggressive basis to lengthen their use; and
3. Commissioner of Corporate Services to:

(i)provide the Budget Committee with a list of vehicles taken home by employees, including police vehicles;

(ii)review which of those vehicles need to be taken home;

(iii)conduct a review vehicle by vehicle to determine the necessity of keeping the vehicles, beginning with sedans, station wagons, mini vans and pickups;

(iv)report on the number of vehicles traded in after one year and the mileage on them;

(v)provide a report listing all vehicles that are leased, who they are leased for and the reason for leasing them; and

(vi)include information on the average age of the vehicles in the City's fleet.

 Discussion:

1. Police Services

 On April 23, 1998, the Interim Fleet Lead met with the Police Service to review the possibility of rebuilding police vehicles and to discuss how they are going to rotate police vehicles more aggressively to extend their useful life. The Police Service submitted a comprehensive report (Appendix A) to the Interim Fleet Lead which responds to the Budget Committee's request and illustrates their determination to optimize the useful life of their vehicles. The following are summaries from their report:

1. Rotation of Vehicles

 The Police Service actively pursues vehicle rotation as well as vehicle rightsizing and purchasing diversity to maximize fleet utilization and meet operational effectiveness. New vehicles are inserted strategically to replace existing vehicles that are reassigned to lower utilization categories which meet operational requirements. This strategy is repeated from high to low usage categories, within or across any given Command until the poorest condition vehicle is removed or disposed.

 This approach enabled the Police Service to reduce the number of units by 160 since 1992 while deferring purchases through reduced budgets (1992, $5.5 million to 1997, $2.6 million). Also, the vehicle replacement policy has been extended on three occasions during the same period. The Police Service will continue to review this policy as new vehicles with increased technology enter service.

1. Vehicle Rebuilding

 Fleet and Material Management embarked on a re-building program to extend the life of marked patrol and unique or high dollar units. The first of these programs was conducted in 1993 when all marked Chevrolet Caprices were rotated through all repair sites and were examined and repaired for seating, front end, brakes, steering, tires, major servicing and body touch-up paint. A second program with the 1992 Crown Victorias was also conducted in late 1994 and early 1995 using the same criteria. Similar scrutiny was also applied to Forensic Identification mini vans in the same year.

 With regard to unique vehicles, Fleet staff re-built all the Mounted Unit's horse trailers, an FLT van was converted and rebuilt in preparation for use in the Video Unit, the ETF bomb unit vehicle, Forensic Identification's primary investigation van, Traffic Service's community station

and complete rebuilds of 3 prisoner vans (4 compartment) for Court Services. Currently, a program to rebuild the Traffic Services van is underway.

   Staff communicate with other Police Services from Vancouver to St. John's including large agencies such as the RCMP and OPP regarding their practices. The OPP is just starting a program which would be similar to the major inspection conducted by Fleet on every fifth service. The OPP have a different situation - (OPP - approx. 2,200 vehicles receives approx. 700 replacements per annum as opposed to 1,400 vehicles with 90 replacements at the City of Toronto). The RCMP do not currently have a rebuild program.

 Further inquires have been made to the largest Police vehicle rebuilder in the United States which has completed over 400 Police type vehicle rebuilds (a complete list of equipment rebuilt is included in Appendix A).

 The cost to rebuild as per this list is $15,600 (Cdn. funds) with no engine and is recommended at 75,000 to 100,000 km. Above this range, rebuilding is not cost-effective since major structural components fatigue and weaken and are not subject to warranty.

1. City of Toronto (inclusive of Police Services)

1. List of Vehicles Taken Home and Vehicles Leased

 A preliminary list of vehicles taken home, vehicles leased and utilization information was compiled by former fleet managers and then sent to departments to validate and review the lists' accuracy and current assignment rationale. To enable departments to review the current assignment in a consistent manner an Interim Fleet Policy was provided for their reference and is attached to this report as Appendix B. A final policy will be established later this year after obtaining input from all principal users of fleet in the City. The results of the review are found in Appendix C that lists by department the status of vehicles taken home, vehicles leased, current assignment rationale and proposed changes to the current assignment. A summary of the changes for both vehicles taken home and vehicles leased are also shown in Appendix C.

1. Vehicles Traded in After One Year

 Fleet managers of the former Municipalities were requested to provide a list of vehicles traded in after one year of service and their odometer readings. They advised that no vehicles met this criteria.

1. Fleet Review

 The Budget Committee requested that a vehicle by vehicle review be conducted to determine the necessity of keeping the vehicles, beginning with sedans, station wagons, mini vans and pickups. This initial request consists of reviewing approximately 1700 vehicles in consultation with the departments and is currently underway, with the assistance of outside consultants. Recommendations will be available for inclusion in the 1999 Operating Budget.

 Although this process will determine the necessity of keeping fleet and result in some fleet reductions and savings, it is time consuming and closely tied to the restructuring of the operating departments. With the reorganization of service delivery comes the opportunity for departments to reduce the size of their fleet based on need and cost effectiveness. A reduction in the corporation's fleet size will yield significant savings in capital, maintenance and fuel costs.

1. Average Age of the City's Fleet

 A fleet age profile is provided as Appendix E that outlines the average age and life expectancy by vehicle type. The average age of the City's overall fleet is 6.92 years. An examination of the fleet profile (see Appendix D) by type reveals that the fleet is relatively old. In order to keep the fleet operating in a safe and effective manner, maintenance and repair costs increase as the fleet ages. In addition, an older fleet is not as effective at reducing harmful smog producing emissions and contributes emissions that strengthen the greenhouse effect.

 Conclusions:

 Since 1993 the Police Service embarked upon a successful re-building program to extend the life of selected vehicles that resulted in deferral of new vehicle purchases. However this approach is not cost effective for every vehicle. The Police Service has a program which rotates vehicles from high to low use categories to optimize their useful life.

 The review of the number of vehicles taken home and vehicles leased resulted in reduction from 277 to 255 and 127 to 126 respectively. It is possible that further reductions will result upon completion of the fleet review.

 The average age of the City's fleet is approximately 7 years old. However, the average age profile by fleet type reveals a relatively old fleet. This translates into increased maintenance and operating costs to keep the fleet in a safe working condition.

 Contact Name:

 Stan Burrows, Interim Functional Lead Fleet Management

Phone No.: (416) 392-1034

Fax No.: (416) 392-7301

Margaret Rodrigues

Commissioner, Corporate Services