Hong Kong’s ombudsman calls for shorter waiting time for driving tests
Watchdog calls on Transport Department to make manpower and testing centre changes as waiting times stretch to nearly 200 days.
Hong Kong’s ombudsman has urged the transport authority to improve its driving exam services and shorten the waiting time for road tests as the period to obtain a licence for a private car stretches to nearly 200 days.
Ombudsman Jack Chan Jick-chi on Thursday called on the Transport Department to consider expanding a trial arrangement to cover all exam centres as it would allow about 5,500 extra road tests to be held each year.
In its report, the watchdog noted that during the past 12 years, the volume of applications for road tests and the number held by the department had increased but demand still exceeded supply.
According to the latest official figures, a resident would need an average of 198 days to take all the driving tests needed to operate a private car, and an average of 206 days to obtain the licence for a light goods vehicle.
But the figures do represent an improvement. In November 2022, the waiting time for road tests for private cars and light goods vehicles could exceed 340 days.
“Put simply, the waiting time for road tests would remain excessively long, unless there is a sustained and substantial decrease in the demand for the tests,” the report stated.
“This office considers the situation undesirable. [The] Transport Department should, therefore, make every effort to increase road test output to ensure a shorter waiting time of candidates.”