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Efficient for whom?

Subhead
State discovers 'efficiencies' in pandemic closures while hundreds of motorists drive hundreds of miles for licensure testing
Lead Summary
By
Lori Sorenson

More than 100 local student drivers were licensed in the past year, and they all had to travel outside the county for their written and behind the wheel exams.
That’s because the Minnesota Department of Public Safety Driver and Vehicle Services (DVS) closed all 93 testing stations around the state in March 2020 during the pandemic.
A few months later, it reopened 14 consolidated stations, and few months later 23 test sites were open.
However, 70 test sites, mostly in rural areas of the state, remained closed, forcing rural drivers to travel hundreds of miles to get licensed.
Luverne’s Tyler Arends and his family were among the Rock County drivers affected by the DVS closures. He turned 16 on June 22, and his mom, Kim Arends, planned ahead.
On May 13 she scheduled Tyler’s behind the wheel test for June 22 in Marshall, which was the test site closest to Luverne. That would allow him to drive on his 16th birthday.
The plan fell apart, however, on June 2 when a rained-out golf meet got rescheduled and they had to reschedule the driving test for June 24, two days after Tyler’s birthday.
“The next closest place was Willmar,” Kim said. “I heard from other families who drove to Fairmont.”
It took a day of travel, but she’s counting their blessings.
“Luckily he passed on the first try,” she said. "And he’s a summer birthday; he didn’t have to miss school.” They traveled to Marshall in June 2020 for the written test to get his permit.
“It’s a bummer for the kids, too,” Kim said. “This is something they look forward to for a long time.”
 
Efficient for whom?
During the pandemic closures, state DVS officials reported “major efficiencies” from the consolidations and centrally locating staff.
Those efficiencies, however, came at the expense of the taxpaying public which picked up the extra miles, time and fuel.
Rock County Administrator Kyle Oldre lamented the inefficiencies of so many people traveling for the tests, when a handful of DVS personnel could travel to the outstate locations to test drivers.
“Do they think it’s more efficient for 100 people to drive east, in our case, rather than two people to drive here?” he said. “It just doesn’t make any sense. But that’s the state for you.”
Cindy Arends handles driver’s education registration for families in the Luverne School District.
Between March 2020 and March 2021, she said more than 100 students were affected by the state’s test station closures.
Many of them traveled 70 miles to Marshall’s driving exam station or more than 90 miles to Fairmont’s station. Others drove 140 miles to Willmar when they learned the wait was too long in Marshall and Fairmont.
And they made these trips twice, once for the written test and another trip later for the driving test. They made return trips if students didn’t pass their tests.
If all the students licensed last year went to Marshall, the closest option during that time, they made the 140-mile round trip twice (once for the written test and once for behind the wheel), totaling 280 miles.
In many cases, the accompanying adults took a day off work, and the student drivers missed a day of school.
Pre-pandemic, exam stations were in each county operating at least one day per week, and students missed only an hour of school to take the test and then return to class.
 
Hardships and challenges
Brian Snyders is the driver’s education instructor in Luverne High School.
He said the absence of an exam station in Luverne has been a challenge for local families.
“They had to travel to take the test and then travel again for the driving test,” he said. “At first they were driving to Fairmont and Marshall.”
He said some families scheduled driving tests in northern Minnesota, timed with family vacations to save time and miles.
Snyders said Worthington, which recently reopened its test station, is a closer option, but it’s still an hour round trip, and it’s an unfamiliar place for local students to drive.
To prepare them with their test streets, he said he’d take the student drivers to Worthington at least once during behind-the-wheel training.
“They have four-way stops and roundabouts that we don’t have here,” he said.
Further, when DVS examiners tested in Luverne, Snyders said he worked with the examiner to learn what the students would need to know for the tests.
Without an exam station in town, Snyders said, that’s not possible.
And students aren’t the only ones facing hardships by test site closures. Farmers who hire seasonal drivers faced delays and extra costs, and rural transit drivers were having difficulties getting commercial licenses.
 
Seeking solutions
The Legislature recently ordered the reopening of all 93 stations in Minnesota, saying the distance and time for rural residents to reach larger cities for driver’s exams was unacceptable.
State law requires DVS to offer knowledge and road tests for Class D licenses either in or adjacent to every county in the state.
Similarly, statute ensures that customers obtain road tests with 14 days of requesting one, a requirement that is also not being met.
As of Aug. 10, the DVS has 26 exam stations open, including one in Worthington, and the goal is to reopen all 93 by Jan. 31, 2022.
To get to that point, state officials say they’ll need to:
•Renew leases or find new spaces to lease.
•Hire and train enough staff to cover testing at each location currently open.
•Hire 34 additional examiner positions.
•Set up an appointment schedule at each location.
Oldre said “finding” test sites shouldn’t be an issue, since many of the pre-pandemic locations are still available.
“Rock County stands receptive,” he said. “We want them back. It’s about serving the public, which is what we do.”
Legislators also approved nearly $5.2 million over the next two years to improve staffing and resources to accomplish the task.
Ultimately, the goal is to ensure the public is getting services it pays for and to make it fair for all drivers, whether they live in a metro area or in outstate Minnesota.

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