There is some hope for local drivers frustrated by the lack of opportunity to nail down a testing date.
“Barrie has nothing available, no dates past January,” said Barb Webster, who is with Young Drivers of Canada.
The local driving school was closed from March 19 until July 13 as a result of the pandemic.
The local Ministry of Transportation DriveTest centres closed March 23, which has created a pent-up demand for services.
All full-time DriveTest centres, including in Barrie, reopened June 22 with part-time centres starting to reopen Aug. 4, providing some services.
But, Webster said, some part-time DriveCentre “travel ports,” such as the Collingwood location, remained closed, putting more pressure on the Barrie centre which has been serving a much broader area.
The Ministry of Transportation announced Thursday that Ontario will be expanding its driver testing services provincewide next Tuesday, following the Labour Day long weekend, implementing strict protocols to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
A spokesperson said DriveTest will continue to offer extended hours and Saturday service at select centres. However, Barrie will not be subject to expanded hours. For more information, visit the DriveTest.ca website.
“While we are committed to continue working with DriveTest to address the current backlog and find innovative ways to deliver more convenient and efficient services, we have already begun to take action to combat the increased demand for services," MTO senior issues advisor Lee Alderson wrote in an email.
Webster was encouraged by yesterday’s news.
“That’s good that they’re opening. Hopefully they’ll open up more spots so we’re not looking into next February for a 'G' test,” she said.
New operations starting Tuesday will allow drivers to book their class-G road tests and access all classes of driver testing services at DriveTest centres across Ontario.
The province says all full-time DriveTest centres will be offering 100 per cent of their services with restrictions removed.
Class-G1 and M1 knowledge tests, as well as driver's licence exchanges and upgrades, will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Appointments will be required for class-G2 and class-G road tests, class-M2 and class-M motorcycle road tests; and commercial driver road tests for all classes of commercial driver's licences.
Part-time Travel Point locations are reopening as the shared facilities they are located in become available for public use.
Efforts to decrease longer than usual lineups include modified hours of operations offering extended hours at six sites for two to three months, modified existing knowledge test workstation configuration to increase the number of useable knowledge test workstations in certain offices, and extended operational hours at three additional locations.
After Tuesday, the government plans to increase knowledge test capacity at 22 DriveTest centres resulting in an additional 60,000 knowledge tests available each month, increase monthly capacity for G and G2 road tests by 25,000, hire and train an additional 50 driver examiners by December 2020 resulting in an additional 18,000 G and G2 road tests each month.
