Getting an emissions test in Colorado can take hours. What’s the hold up?

AURORA, Colo. — When Lena Silva first saw the line of cars at the Air Care Colorado emissions testing facility, she assumed her GPS had taken her to the wrong location. 

“There must be some sort of event,” Silva remembered thinking. 

On March 28, cars stretched for three football fields back to South Parker road. That was just the line to enter the gate. 

Silva was busy applying for jobs in product management, but she needed an emissions test to complete her car registration. She drove to the back of the line and waited nearly three hours for a test. 

Colorado’s emissions testing program dates back to 1980. Nine Colorado counties along the Front Range that routinely fail to meet national air quality standards for ozone levels participate in the program. 

Cars less than seven years old and electric vehicles are exempt. Most other drivers are required to get an emissions test every two years. In 2023, more than 1.1 million vehicles received an emissions test. Roughly 6.5 percent of cars failed. Vehicles that fail must be repaired or taken off the road. 

The Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment, which oversees emissions testing, calculated the program cost $75.63 million in 2023. The agency estimates that testing prevented 6.58 tons per day of ozone precursors, primarily nitrogen oxides (NOx)  and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from being released into the atmosphere.

Once released, these pollutants can react with sunlight and create ozone that can cause or exacerbate respiratory problems. This translates to a 7.35 percent reduction in total ozone emissions for the Northern Front Range area. 

Silva’s experience waiting hours for an emissions test is not unique. In 2023, Opus Global, the Swedish corporation that performs emissions testing in Colorado, paid more than $4 million in fines for instances when motorist wait times exceeded 15 minutes. 

While waiting in line, Silva shared her experience on Nextdoor. 

“You’d think that 100s of cars idling for hours would be bad for emissions…kind of opposite of what we are trying to do, no? Why can’t they just let all regular mechanics do this so we don’t have to waste time, fuel and sanity??,” she wrote. 

The post blew up. Neighbors shared their own horror stories and offered tricks to avoid lines. 

In 2023, CDPHE calculated that travel to and from emissions inspection centers averaged 22.24 minutes. The average motorist waited 15.37 minutes before their vehicle was inspected and 11.75 minutes to complete the test.

Wait times, however, do not include time drivers spend outside the gates of testing facilities, meaning the state’s data do not reflect the lines people like Silva experienced. 

Chuck Purnell, the program manager for Opus, said that weather, equipment, staffing and Colorado’s population growth all contribute to wait times. 

“We used to have a pretty even mix of volume between even years and odd years,” said Purnell. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Air Care Colorado facilities closed temporarily and Colorado eased enforcement of expired vehicle registration. 

“That shift kind of threw things out of whack,” said Purnell.

 In odd years, he said testing sites now receive 90,000 to 100,000 more drivers, he said. 

Volume at testing sites varies widely by time of the month. 

“We do about 37% of our volume in the last week of the month,” said Purnell. 

Air Care Colorado lists wait times at its 18 Front Range locations on its website, but these times do not include time spent waiting outside of the facility. 

Jenny Inclina, a single mother of two who works at Sephora, said she drove by the Aurora testing site eight times before the line looked short enough to squeeze in a visit. 

Air Care Colorado facilities are open 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays. The company warns drivers that testing sites may close earlier than 5:30 p.m. if the line is especially long. 

On April 28, employees at the Air Care Colorado facility on East Warren Avenue closed the gate to drivers roughly an hour before the listed closing time. Drivers waiting outside the gate were told to come back another day. 

When emissions testing began in Colorado in 1981, drivers were required to receive an annual test, but there were far more options for where to go. 

Across the Front Range, drivers could choose between over 1,300 locations to get a test, and nearly 4,000 mechanics were licensed to perform tail pipe tests. 

Beginning in 1995, the state partnered with a private contractor, Envirotest Systems Corp., to centralize testing. Even before Envirotest Systems came to Colorado, the company had a reputation for long lines. 

Critics of centralized testing at the time called for the state to instead invest in remote sensing devices, a technology developed at the University of Denver, that uses infrared radiation to measure levels of carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides in car exhaust as the vehicle passes the sensor. They argued that remote sensing offered a cheaper, more efficient alternative. 

Despite bids from competitors who promised to complete tests for less money, the state offered the seven year, $140 million contract to Envirotest Systems Corp. A 1995 report from Westword points to the influence of powerful lobbyists the company hired. Colorado renewed its contract with Envirotest Systems in 2015.

Opus Global acquired Envirotest Systems in 2014, and currently holds the contract with the state. 

In addition to 18 centralized testing sites, Air Care Colorado employs remote sensing tests throughout the state. In 2023, the company deployed an average of 13 units Monday through Friday across nine counties. The tests saved 171,251 drivers a trip to a testing facility. 

Drivers must pass the roadside test twice, at least 60 days prior to their vehicle’s registration renewal month. If the vehicle passes, owners will receive notification on their next renewal registration statement.

Renee Allen, a spokesperson for Opus, said that drivers can call a hotline to find out if they've driven by a remote sensing unit, but it will not tell them if they passed the test. The test still costs drivers $25 when they register. 

In 2012, the Colorado State Auditor suggested that Air Care Colorado use speedier, on-board diagnostics testing for more cars. Currently, only vehicles younger than12 years old are eligible for an on-board diagnostic (OBD) inspection. Drivers who are eligible for the OBD test must often wait behind drivers who require a slower, IM-240 test that measures the chemical composition of the exhaust. 

During an OBD test, inspectors check the dash for lights indicating a problem and connect to the car’s computer control system to determine if there is an emissions problem. OBD inspections are faster for motorists and employees. 

Although all cars newer than 1996 are able to perform an OBD test, only cars newer than 12 years old are eligible for the test. Purnell said that the IM-240 test is “more comprehensive,” and that it is up to the state and Environmental Protection Agency to determine which cars get which test. 

The Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment, which oversees the program, declined to speak with Rocky Mountain PBS.