Item - 2025.GG20.13

The General Government Committee:  

1. Received the report (February 25, 2025) from the General Manager, Fleet Services Division for information.

The purpose of this report is to provide an update to the General Government Committee on Fleet Services' efforts to reduce vehicle and equipment downtime and minimize the number of underutilized vehicles, as requested by City Council on October 17, 2019 (Item - 2019.GL8.1). The most recent annual update was provided on March 26, 2024 (Item - 2024.GG11.14).

The City of Toronto operates one of the largest municipal fleets in Canada and one of the most specialized and diverse fleets in North America, comprising of over 5,000 vehicles and equipment. The Fleet Services Division supports client divisions, agencies and corporations by providing fleet management and maintenance services and driver training to support the delivery of essential City services.

Fleet availability and utilization are critical performance metrics that support effective fleet management. Fleet Services Division has made significant progress in increasing vehicle availability and right-sizing the City's fleet by monitoring and taking action on underutilization.

Fleet availability measures the percentage of time fleet assets are available for use. From 2022 to 2024, availability has improved, reaching an availability rate of over 80 percent across all asset categories and notably resulting in a 91 percent availability rate for Off-Road category (e.g. loaders or, backhoes). Fleet availability is influenced by the following five factors, all of which have advanced over the last two years: workforce development, parts availability, operational performance management, promoting safe driving practices and vendor partners and centralized management.  

Fleet utilization measures how effectively vehicles are being used. Fleet Services Division is committed to working with client divisions, agencies and corporations to enhance the efficiency of their fleet and eliminate unnecessary assets. Key actions taken include divesting redundant vehicles, reallocating resources, and strengthening the management of rental vehicles.

Across the city's light-duty vehicles (e.g. vans, pick-ups, minibus, city delivery trucks), underutilization has been steadily decreasing. In 2021, the underutilization rate was 20 percent, which is significantly higher than the City's current 2024 underutilization rate of 3 percent, an achievement that has resulted in significant savings. Between 2023 and 2024, $2.65 million in revenue was retrieved through 268 assets (169 assets in 2023 and 44 in 2024) being sold or in the process of being sold. Fleet Services Division has reinvested the savings to support asset replacement plans to reduce the State of Good Repair backlog, which has resulted in a maintenance cost savings of $487,733 in 2023, and $70,621 in 2024.