Flexibility and adaptability in city government have always been necessary, especially when challenges arise.

The new express road test service that will be launched in the coming weeks is an example of the city’s attempt to implement innovative solutions and improve service.

The department’s new express location for the road test needed to obtain a Hawaii driver’s license will require flexibility in people, process and systems when its doors open July 10 at 1112 Kapahulu Ave.

As the department addresses the challenge of administering annually more than 60,000 road tests, we need this basic government service to be accessible and functional in urban Honolulu, where heavy traffic and congested streets are forcing operational adjustments to our Sheridan Park Road Test Office on Piikoi Street.

The express road test service at Kapahulu will allow the department to try out a new location in urban Honolulu and assess whether it can be a credible alternative and improvement to the Sheridan Park area for our applicants to spend 15 to 20 minutes on roads, where they have to demonstrate an ability to drive safely.

After identifying and overcoming any initial hurdles, the intent is for the new Kapahulu site to become a full-service road test facility, and relocate all resources from the Sheridan Park site to support its operation. The tentative timeline for completing the switchover process is March 2024.

Between now and then, the new Kapahulu site will operate as a road test express location, helping the department’s larger effort to meet public demand for its services at the speed residents require.

The new Kapahulu location is also an operational adjustment that required the affected employees of the department’s Driver Licensing Branch to quickly step up, in a big way, and support the pilot program.

The department needed them to be flexible and adaptable. Their buy-in will allow the express location to play an essential role in helping our driver licensing centers better serve residents by allowing many of them to take a driver’s license road test in about a week.

As a result, the wait time for this express road test service will be a major shift from the one to two months it typically takes to get an appointment for the behind-the-wheel exam at the four other driver licensing locations across Oahu. That is a big improvement from a year ago, when we were seeing extreme demand that overwhelmed operations and pushed wait times for a road test to four to six months.

The one catch is that the express location will not immediately be full service. It will be limited to the behind-the-wheel test for earning a driver’s license. Meaning, for now, applicants who pass the test will exercise their new skill and drive about two miles away to process their paperwork at the Sheridan Park office.

This interim process is the first big step in phasing out the Sheridan Park Road Test Office, the city’s largest road test facility, which was temporary to begin with. The road test operation moved there from the Kapalama Driver Licensing Center in October 2020, to get out of the path of construction work on Dillingham Boulevard for the elevated rail system, and help alleviate traffic congestion in the area.

Fast-forward to today. We still need to be flexible and ready to adapt, and have a laser-like focus on resolving challenges that could emerge from plans to move the city’s road test operation from Sheridan Park to the new express service Kapahulu location, where test routes are less congested, customer parking is adequate, and service is faster.

Kim Hashiro is director of the city’s Department of Customer Services.