HORNEPAYNE — A group of regional mayors are calling on the Ministry of Transportation to look at establishing DriveTest centres closer to home.
The Northeast Superior Mayors — which represents Wawa, Hornepayne, Manitouwadge, White River, Dubreuilville and Chapleau — met with ministry officials during the Ontario Good Roads Association conference to discuss the issue.
Currently, the closest permanent Drive Test Centers are in Thunder Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Timmins and Sudbury.
During the summer months, the ministry has temporary testing available in various rural municipalities such as Hornepayne, Wawa, White River, and Manitouwadge.
Hornepayne Mayor Cheryl Forte said it's extremely difficult to get driver testing during the winter months.
That service gap leaves many potential school bus drivers, plow operators, commercial vehicle motorists, and residents either waiting or travelling long distances to get a license. It also forces companies to pay out of pocket to send their employees to these communities.
“We need better service,” Fort said.
During the meeting, the mayors were told that the ministry has started looking into bringing DriveTest centres to the region.
“One of the data measures they are using is looking at the postal codes of where people are getting licensed. Because last year, we had said to them that our numbers are being captured in other communities, which doesn’t necessarily reflect the right information,” Fort said.
The ministry's current practice is to count people who have travelled to urban centres in that site's data, rather than their home address, as they look to identify where services are needed.
Fort said she was pleased that the ministry had heard the mayors' calls for action at last year's conference.
“Ideally it would be great if we can each have our own facility, but fiscally is that being responsible with the taxpayer’s dollar, I’m not sure. So that’s why it would like to look at the data set and see where it is best fit for our region,” Fort said.
