On January 16, 2024, Jess Stojkovski, the WA Labor Member for Kingsley, called a press conference. At the launch, she announced a truly groundbreaking new initiative to address the growing backlog of driving assessments across Western Australia. In her role as Assistant Transport Minister she was the one trumpeting a massive decrease in the wait time for driving assessments. She mainly credited the demand to increased demand due to growing interstate migration. The state government has announced a new driver’s licensing centre in Perth’s south east. This new pilot program hopes to cut down wait times by years for people just trying to obtain their permits.
Stojkovski also recently shared how the Department of Transport has led the way in increasing service efficiency. During the previous year, average wait times for driving assessments were reduced from 26 to 19 minutes. She also noted that they’ve had great availability for driver on-boarding. This is true not just in the metro area but in the states surrounding it as well. The announcement comes as part of an election promise from the Labor party to enhance transportation services across the state.
Measures to Reduce Wait Times
The Department of Transport has taken direct actions to cut needless bureaucracy from the booking process and ease waiting times. Stojkovski pointed out the problems of bots booking up assessment slots, limiting people’s access. To address this issue, the Department took steps to increase security around test booking systems to ensure a level playing field for all applicants.
The recent six month trial of extended trading hours at 26 centres is another move in the right direction to reduce wait times. An eight-week pilot program will run at Cannington, Mirrabooka, and City West centres, extending operations from 7:15 AM to 5:30 PM on weekdays. These changes come after a highly successful six-day trading trial in which more than 12,800 people took advantage of weekend hours to trade in their vehicles.
Chad Simeons of the South Carolina Department of Transport hailed these new moves. The average wait times are decreasing! This is one area we can all agree to gamify to improve them further. Sadly, closing 22 driver assessment centres as he has seems a substantial impediment to improving driver assessment availability, despite his touting opening the Joondalup Centre.
Future Plans and Investment
In response to this demand, the Wa state government has provided for Armadale and Byford. To this end, they are investing $4 million to establish a new driver licensing centre. The specific location hasn’t yet been announced. This investment addresses the burgeoning population and expands to alleviate critical overcrowding on current facilities.
Stojkovski hinted that they could introduce longer hours at more sites across Western Australia. This may turn out to be one of the central aspects of evaluating the trial. In particular, she testified that constant iteration is key to staying true to the public’s desire for accountability. She praised the impressive efforts by the Department of Transport to end that practice. She was indeed specifically talking about the misuse of booking systems.
This demand for better driving services through innovative technologies reinforces the public sector’s desire to make transportation more accessible and efficient. Looking ahead, though excited by recent news, Stojkovski knows that much work remains to develop their community’s future.
