It’s a system that has been in place for 25 years but now the current Government in Alberta is doing away with privatized road tests.

“I am pleased to announce that we’re moving forward with plans to improve Alberta’s road test model by restoring driver examiners as Government of Alberta employees,” says Minister of Transportation Brian Mason.

Transportation Minister Brian Mason (right) introduces changes to the road test system (Photo Courtesy: Government of Alberta)

The privatized road test system has been in place since 1993 when former Premier Ralph Klein switched the model from Government run to private.

Minister Mason said they’ve made this change because they are hearing too many complaints each day about the system.

“People being failed so they have to pay a fee to retest. There’s some question about some people being passed that maybe shouldn’t be. There’s instances of harassment and even assault. It’s pretty clear that we have a system that’s broken and we need to fix that and there’s a broad consensus that that’s the case.”

Under the new system, which is set to start on March 1st all fees will be standardized and enhanced monitoring will be in place to ensure road tests are done fairly. Driver examiners will also use tablet and GPS technology to enhance accessibility, especially in rural areas.

The government will begin recruiting new driver examiners this fall and Mason welcomes current examiners to apply.

“We’ll have standardized public service evaluations, interviews and so on. People who have not performed well in the past will be screened. I think, by and large, we’re hoping to hire most of the existing driver examiners.”

Right now there are roughly 153 private driver examiners in Alberta. The Ministry of Transportation said they receive at least seven complaints a day involving

Questions, comments or story ideas? Email us at news@discoverairdrie.com