Pune: A modern automated driving testing track (ADTT) in Saswad is expected to be ready by May next year.Pune RTO on Monday announced a six-month timeline for completion of the project following an inspection of the recently inaugurated automated testing station (ATS) in Saswad by state transport minister Pratap Sarnaik. A road safety research and training institute would also be set up on the 25-acre plot.Pune deputy RTO Swapnil Bhosale said the ADTT would be operational by May 2027.Driving schools in the city said the RTO’s immediate priority should be to address the mounting backlog of driving tests in Pune. The RTO’s proposal to use the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation’s (MSRTC) facility in Bhosari as an additional testing venue has also made little progress, with the corporation yet to grant permission for the same. “MSRTC is yet to give its approval. We are following up with them, but cannot say when the permission will come,” Bhosale told TOI.
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As reported by TOI last month, applicants have been struggling to secure appointments for final driving tests. RTO officials attributed the delay to recent transport department directives capping the number of tests conducted by each inspector to 60 a day and making CCTV surveillance mandatory. These restrictions have reduced Pune RTO’s daily testing capacity from around 800-900 applicants to approximately 700-710, worsening the waiting period.Raju Ghatole, president, Pune Motor Driving School Association, said driving institutes had repeatedly approached the authorities seeking an immediate solution. They have demanded that candidates be given test appointments within eight days of completion of their training. “The Saswad facility is a welcome development, but it will not address the problem we are facing today. Around 400 driving schools in Pune are struggling, and candidates are equally distressed. We have been meeting officials regularly, but there is still no concrete solution,” Ghatole said.A driving school representative said the RTO could increase its daily appointment quota under the existing norms, rather than waiting for new infrastructure to become available. “Slots open at 6 am and are exhausted within 10 minutes. We have candidates who completed their training more than a month ago but are still unable to secure appointments. They are naturally frustrated. This has been going on for nearly two months, and the authorities need to act,” the representative said.Presently, driving tests are conducted in RTO’s Alandi Road facility and Institute of Driving Training and Research (IDTR) in Bhosari. “The test track on Alandi Road is being rebuilt but the project is delayed, too. There were talks of another track in Hadapsar but we have no information about it,” another representative of a driving school said.
