Remote Drive Clean evaluations to be tested

TORONTO — Ontario drivers could soon get their vehicle emissions tested remotely.

A $30 fee was scrapped in last year’s provincial budget for the much-maligned Drive Clean program that tests emissions every two years on cars and light-duty trucks over seven years old, but critics have called for the program to be scrapped entirely.

Ontario’s Liberal government is now proposing a pilot project that would allow testing remotely through on-board diagnostics.

“The goal of the pilot would be to improve customer convenience and to offer more choices to the public when it comes to vehicle emissions reductions,” environment ministry spokesperson Gary Wheeler said in a statement.

Drive Clean test providers could gather emissions data remotely using a device that is plugged into — and remains in — a vehicle’s on-board diagnostic port. The information gathered would be sent electronically to the province when the vehicle is due for a test, Wheeler said.