Owner of Border City Driver Training RonĀ Courtepatte says the changes coming in Alberta for road test examinations will improve their business. The Alberta Government announced Tuesday that all driver examinations will be done by government employees instead of private companies.
“I’m happy because right now in Lloydminster we’re booked up a month in advance.Ā It hurts our business,” saysĀ Courtepatte.
In the city,Ā Courtepatte says there is one road test examiner who also travels to Wainwright. He says it has caused delays for their driving students to get their examinations booked.
Alberta is the only province in Canada with a completely privatized road test framework. The government says the current system has many issues including inconsistent fees, poor service and limited access in rural areas.
Courtepatte says he agrees with these issues. Currently, his driving school completes two road tests a week.
“A lot of times what we do is we get them in and we do an evaluation on them. Then we’ll book the road test and then we wait until we get closer to the road test to take them out an train them.”
The new rules will make fees for road tests for all classes of driver’s licences standardized and services will be accessible across the province at registry agent locations.
“I understand they’re supposed to be having some floating examiners. These are guys that will go from place to place and I’m hoping they do to get this backlog caught up a little bit so I can see booking a week in advance.”
The new changes will come into effect March 1, 2019.