In response to residents growing frustrated with Department of Motor Vehicles wait times, Monroe County Clerk Jamie Romeo addressed the issues March 10 during the Monroe County Legislature meeting.
Last month, the county rolled out a new appointment and walk-in process for DMVs called QLESS. The goal of the system is to create a quicker and more efficient experience for residents.
The new system allow residents to join virtual queues and schedule appointments online, or from on-site kiosks, and provides real time updates and notifications relating to their service request.
Around that same time, New York State experienced a five-day shutdown for all DMV offices for a major system-wide technology overhaul.
New state technology slowed transactions, clerk says
Romeo said that following the five-day statewide shutdown, NYS DMV implemented a new operating system called DRIVES, which has changed how staff at DMV offices process work. Transactions that could have taken five minutes are now taking some clerks 20 minutes to complete, she said.
“That’s just the nature of this system and some of the learning curves we are going to have. It’s a statewide issue including for the other 50 counties that provide DMV services on behalf of the state,” Romeo said. “That’s an issue that is still going on and has definitely contributed to longer wait times, but the wait times are not eight hours.”
During her presentation, Romeo showed data illustrating that no one’s wait time exceeded an hour during February at any of the county’s DMV locations.
“You aren’t going to have to wait five to six hours, the system was giving erroneous projected wait times, we’re continuing to work on that,” Romeo said. “Even though we are seeing an increase in transaction times and increases in some wait times, the worst could be on those busy Mondays, a one to two hour wait, you’re not seeing the six to eight hour waits.”
Romeo also requested that people make an appointment for a REAL ID so that they can come in prepared.
For the month of February, Romeo showed a chart illustrating that they processed close to 2,400 REAL ID appointments. She also noted that REAL ID appointments are high in demand and are booked 45 days in advance.
— Kerria Weaver works as the Government and You reporter for the Democrat and Chronicle, with a focus on how government actions affect communities and neighborhoods in Rochester and in Monroe County.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: DMV wait times aren’t eight hours, Monroe County clerk says
Reporting by Kerria Weaver, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
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