Speeding Up Foot Traffic at the DMV

The issue of long lines and wait times at Department of Motor Vehicles offices has our complete attention (“Going to DMV? Bring a Book,” Nov. 12). Budgetary constraints, population growth and now procedures to combat identity theft and fraud have combined to add to the overall time needed to complete transactions. Even so, implementation of the DMV-Q system to manage staff workload has also produced some decrease in wait times statewide (even in Los Angeles).

In the 10 busiest offices in Southern California, registration wait times dropped about nine minutes, and driver’s license wait times dropped about five minutes in the last fiscal year. In the next year, we will bring 33 more of our larger offices online.

And in the past year we have urged customers to make appointments, either by phone or over the Internet. Customers who do so have wait times far below the statewide average of 24 minutes for a registration or licensing transaction. Somewhere around Thanksgiving, a million Californians will have registered their vehicles over the Internet, with their own computers, from their homes and offices. Those customers didn’t have to make a visit to a DMV office.

We will continue to work as hard as we can to serve our more than 20 million customers each year at the DMV.

We think we’re on the right track, and we will continue to implement our vision of friendly, courteous and professional customer service.

Steven Gourley

Director, DMV, Sacramento

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After reading your article, I was prepared for a long wait. I arrived at the Thousand Oaks DMV 20 minutes before my appointment, was treated in an efficient and courteous manner and was on my way with a renewed license in about five minutes. The experience could not have been more pleasant. Kudos to the Thousand Oaks DMV for a job well done.

Lynn Dickhoff

Topanga