After two attempts at Hamilton’s DriveTest centre, Sebastien Girouard was no closer to getting his G driver’s licence in Ontario.
The 44-year-old said he struggled while driving on Hamilton’s Red Hill Valley Parkway, a highway with an 80 km/h speed limit that is used by some 70,000 vehicles daily. He asked people online about what he should do.
“A lot of people told me [the town of] Simcoe would be easier,” he said. “It’s much better — no traffic, no cars.”
Girouard went to the suggested centre in Norfolk County, an hour away from his home, and said that after driving on an 80 km/h country road for the highway portion of the test, he finally passed.
Despite that, Girouard said, he believes it’s “not fair” how much easier Simcoe seemingly was than Hamilton.
The province’s DriveTest examinations are supposed to be similar to each other and test the same driving skills no matter where you go. But the percentage of people who pass tests at each centre varies drastically, according to new data obtained by CBC Hamilton through a freedom of information request.
The data shows the pass and fail rates of all Ontario DriveTest centres from 2022 and the number of tests at each location.
Simcoe’s DriveTest centre has a 73 per cent pass rate compared to Hamilton’s 67 per cent, but there are more drastic differences across Ontario.
The site with the highest pass rate is in Bancroft, where 88 per cent of drivers succeed in their tests, while the location with the lowest pass rate is in Brampton at 59 per cent.
The average pass rate across Ontario is 69 per cent.
A driving instructor said the findings may be the product of bad teachers, while a road safety group said the results shatter the “illusion of consistency” among sites.
Both said the province needs to make changes to how it runs DriveTest.
“It should be a concern for everybody,” said Brian Patterson, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Ontario Safety League.
The Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO) and Serco Canada Inc., the private-sector organization licensed to operate DriveTest Centres, both declined to do interviews. Serco deferred to MTO.
MTO spokesperson Tanya Blazina said in an email there are reviews done to ensure the tests and examiners meet ministry standards.
The province also emphasized the same criteria is used to evaluate drivers, no matter where they take the test.
Why do test centres’ pass rates differ?
Patterson and Puneet Chadha, an instructor with London Pro Drivers, said there are a variety of reasons test centres’ pass rates differ.
Chadha acknowledged driving in downtown areas or the Greater Toronto Area can be “crazy” due to inconsiderate drivers.
Rural test centres, meanwhile, may have a reputation for being easier and, as a result, get more out-of-town visitors showing up to do the test. In many cases, however, the drivers will be unfamiliar with the area and fail.
That said, Chadha noted he sometimes takes more anxious students or seniors who only plan to drive short distances for errands to locations with a “calmer atmosphere.” But that doesn’t mean the test is any easier because they all test for the same skills, he said.
“Let’s say you do a test in London, you’ve got a total of 12 to 14 turns you’ve got to do, but you go into a small town, there’s 30 turns,” he said, adding he believes the tests all have the same difficulty and the same standard.
Patterson doesn’t agree, saying the DriveTest routes need a more thorough review.
Chadha and Patterson said shoddy instructors may impact pass rates too.
People enter Hamilton’s DriveTest centre. The province’s DriveTest exams are supposed to be similar to each other and test the same driving skills. (Bobby Hristova/CBC)
Patterson said some teachers bring a whole group of drivers to an out-of-town test centre and charge them a fee to use the teacher’s car for the test.
Many of the students, unfamiliar with the area, will fail the test while the instructor gets a big pay day, he said.
Patterson said he has also heard instructors tell drivers to leave money in the car for examiners.
CBC Hamilton reached out to the MTO to respond to Patterson’s comments about the drivers.
In an Aug. 29 email, Blazina said Ontario’s driver testing standards are among “the most stringent in North America.” She said the rules and marking guidelines that examiners use during road tests are based on the Highway Traffic Act.
Blazina said examiners evaluate drivers based on their ability to show they can safely operate a vehicle according to a set of road test standards — and those standards are the same for all drivers.
“Driver examiners have no discretion to evaluate outside of these standards,” she said.
“All road test appointments are randomly assigned to driver examiners, and any attempt to bribe a driver examiner would result in an immediate termination of the road test.”
What changes can be made, tips for drivers
Patterson said DriveTest centres should have drivers use a standardized vehicle equipped with cameras and microphones, instead of their own vehicle, to add more accountability and prevent instructors from trying to profit off students.
He also said the province should review the test routes and examiners, as well as track more data on new drivers.
“How many drivers are involved in a reportable collision within 12 months of receiving their licence? Is there a variance between people who have collisions having taken formal training or people not having taken formal training? We don’t know.”
Patterson said MTO may also want to consider having multiple organizations run DriveTest centres, instead of just Serco.
A man stands in the parking lot of a DriveTest Centre in Hamilton. (Bobby Hristova/CBC)
Chadha said DriveTest centres should check to see if the instructor bringing a student in is licensed or registered, has insurance and belongs to a school.
Patterson said he knows of cases of people buying driver education certificates from instructors for cheap without doing any practice. The certificate can allow people an expedited test and less expensive insurance.
Chadha and Patterson said they have told the province about the issues, but it has been unwilling to address them.
People enter a DriveTest building. (Bobby Hristova/CBC)
But Blazina, spokesperson for the MTO, said there are performance assessments and audits at DriveTest sites.
The province says all routes were reviewed for G tests in January 2022 at permanent DriveTest locations and all routes are approved by the MTO.
Blazina said drivers fail their tests because they either can’t perform a manoeuvre, make multiple mistakes or do something dangerous. Examiners, she said, can’t evaluate outside of the set of road test standards.
As for what drivers can do to better their chances of passing, no matter the location, Chadha said, anyone using an instructor should do their homework and choose a reputable instructor or school, rather than the cheapest or the most advertised.
He also said people shouldn’t focus on merely passing the test, but also driving safely and defensively to avoid dangerous situations and crashes.
TORONTO – Roots Corp. may have built its brand on all things comfy and cosy, but its CEO says activewear is now “really becoming a core part” of the brand.
The category, which at Roots spans leggings, tracksuits, sports bras and bike shorts, has seen such sustained double-digit growth that Meghan Roach plans to make it a key part of the business’ future.
“It’s an area … you will see us continue to expand upon,” she told analysts on a Friday call.
The Toronto-based retailer’s push into activewear has taken shape over many years and included several turns as the official designer and supplier of Team Canada’s Olympic uniform.
But consumers have had plenty of choice when it comes to workout gear and other apparel suited to their sporting needs. On top of the slew of athletic brands like Nike and Adidas, shoppers have also gravitated toward Lululemon Athletica Inc., Alo and Vuori, ramping up competition in the activewear category.
Roach feels Roots’ toehold in the category stems from the fit, feel and following its merchandise has cultivated.
“Our product really resonates with (shoppers) because you can wear it through multiple different use cases and occasions,” she said.
“We’ve been seeing customers come back again and again for some of these core products in our activewear collection.”
Her remarks came the same day as Roots revealed it lost $5.2 million in its latest quarter compared with a loss of $5.3 million in the same quarter last year.
The company said the second-quarter loss amounted to 13 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Aug. 3, the same as a year earlier.
In presenting the results, Roach reminded analysts that the first half of the year is usually “seasonally small,” representing just 30 per cent of the company’s annual sales.
Sales for the second quarter totalled $47.7 million, down from $49.4 million in the same quarter last year.
The move lower came as direct-to-consumer sales amounted to $36.4 million, down from $37.1 million a year earlier, as comparable sales edged down 0.2 per cent.
The numbers reflect the fact that Roots continued to grapple with inventory challenges in the company’s Cooper fleece line that first cropped up in its previous quarter.
Roots recently began to use artificial intelligence to assist with daily inventory replenishments and said more tools helping with allocation will go live in the next quarter.
Beyond that time period, the company intends to keep exploring AI and renovate more of its stores.
It will also re-evaluate its design ranks.
Roots announced Friday that chief product officer Karuna Scheinfeld has stepped down.
Rather than fill the role, the company plans to hire senior level design talent with international experience in the outdoor and activewear sectors who will take on tasks previously done by the chief product officer.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, are set to resume today as a strike that has stopped most services drags into a second week.
No timeline has been set for the length of the negotiations, but Joe McCann, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they are willing to stay there as long as it takes, even if talks drag on all night.
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people unable to navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last Tuesday, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
Hundreds of drivers rallied outside TransLink’s head office earlier this week, calling for the transportation provider to intervene in the dispute with Transdev, which was contracted to oversee HandyDART service.
Transdev said earlier this week that it will provide a reply to the union’s latest proposal on Thursday.
A statement from the company said it “strongly believes” that their employees deserve fair wages, and that a fair contract “must balance the needs of their employees, clients and taxpayers.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MONTREAL – Travel company Transat AT Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year earlier as its revenue edged lower.
The parent company of Air Transat says it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31.
The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue in what was the company’s third quarter totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.
Transat chief executive Annick Guérard says demand for leisure travel remains healthy, as evidenced by higher traffic, but consumers are increasingly price conscious given the current economic uncertainty.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
