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Pittsburgh City Council

Fire and EMS Vehicle Fleets Underfunded, Pose a Public Safety Risk.

Written by Amy Whipple

  • Councilperson Coghill convened a May 6 post‑agenda meeting to discuss the City’s emergency vehicle fleets.
  • Bureau of Fire fleet has 46 vehicles past their service life or mileage limits (33%)
  • Bureau of Emergency Medical Services fleet has 58 vehicles past their service life or mileage limits (89%)
  • By contrast, the Police Bureau’s fleet is in good shape after acquiring 60 cars in 2022–23; the oldest vehicle is from 2016 with 125,000 miles.
  • Replacement vehicles can take years to arrive and be outfitted (e.g., two EMS trucks ordered in 2022 arrived January 2025; five orders from 2023 are not yet in production).
  • It would take $10–15 million per year to appropriately maintain the vehicle fleet across the departments according to Pittsburgh Public Safety Director Lee Schmidt.
  • Councilperson Coghill noted the five‑year budget outlook allows for only $3 million per year for fleet investment.
  • A post‑9/11 federal program provided $40–50 million per year to the region (13 counties plus the City) for vehicles; that funding has dwindled and may disappear entirely.
  • Councilmembers agreed that both Council and the City’s administration needed to analyze the budget and pull from where they can to address what they call a public safety problem.

Connections to this story

Topics:
Public Safety & EMSCity Budget & Fiscal
Governments:
Pittsburgh City Council
Public meetings:
City Council · May 13, 2025

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