What do you do when your customer base expands so rapidly that it goes beyond your ability to provide prompt service? To a competitive business, the answer is a no-brainer: hire more employees and expand operations.
In the non-competitive world of government, those often aren’t options. The idea of more government buildings and more government workers usually doesn’t sit well with taxpayers. For almost two decades, Nevada’s population has been growing faster than any other state in the nation. Yet, the Taxpayers Network, a non-profit organization that educates citizens about government, calculates that Nevada – at 413 workers per 10,000 residents – has fewer government employees per capita than any other state in the nation.
For the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), the answer to the “many customers, few employees” dilemma has been using new technology to keep customers out of the DMV’s offices. Although renewing vehicle registrations and driver’s licenses by mail has long been a convenient option, it’s just as labor-intensive as an office visit. Mail helps reduce wait times, but it doesn’t help the “few employees” issue.
The first alternative to tackle both sides of the problem came in 2000. The department launched a Web site at www.dmvnv.com targeting computer-savvy motorists. Initially, motorists were limited to online vehicle registration renewals. Today, they can renew registrations and driver’s licenses, estimate fees, print out driving records, look up specialty plates and much more.
The department’s Web site is convenient for motorists and requires comparatively little attention from employees. Nearly half a million motorists are using the online renewals each year. Driver history records account for another 100,000 transactions annually.
The DMV’s efficiency efforts don’t stop with the Web. The agency has also specifically targeted motorists in Washoe and Clark counties, where smog checks are required. Smog check machines can telephone their test results to a central database. The next logical step, then, is to renew the vehicle registration at the same time. Pilot projects tested the idea and in late 2003 emission-testing equipment was linked directly to the department’s computers. Today, 16 emission stations in Clark County and 11 in Washoe County can renew vehicle registrations on the spot. In April, 3,171 motorists chose to renew at an emission station rather than visit a DMV office.
The strong cash economy in our state presented another opportunity for the department. Working closely with JCM American Corporation, the DMV developed a kiosk for cash customers. Rolled out statewide in 2004, it’s the only DMV kiosk in the nation that accepts credit cards and cash as payment and immediately dispenses documents. Motorists can use the kiosks to renew registrations and licenses and reinstate registrations that have lapsed for lack of insurance coverage.
At first, kiosks were only located inside DMV offices and were available only during business hours. Early this year, a pilot program placed kiosks in the Las Vegas and Henderson offices of the American Automobile Association of California and Nevada. In April of this year, outdoor kiosks available around the clock were installed at the DMV’s new office on Decatur Boulevard in North Las Vegas. Kiosks are now in 16 locations across the state and handle about 20,000 transactions a month.
The department has not ignored its partners in business, either. The DMV recently added the ability for the vehicle industry to renew business licenses on its Web site. By 2008, all fuel suppliers will be filing their tax returns electronically, greatly cutting paperwork and improving the collection of the state’s important fuel tax revenues.
The DMV is also working on ways to automate the vehicle buyer-seller process. Presently, anyone who buys a car or just wants new license plates must visit a DMV office. The department is exploring avenues that will allow it to complete those transactions electronically.
Are Nevada motorists taking advantage of these choices? Definitely. In the Las Vegas area alone, the department has experienced a nearly 20 percent increase in customers since 2000, yet has cut wait times by more than 40 percent. Right now, the average wait time in a DMV office is well under an hour.
It’s unlikely that a visit to a DMV office will ever become an eagerly-anticipated event. Complying with the vehicle and roadway laws of our state is a tedious, if necessary, chore. The Nevada DMV, however, is committed to seeking ways to provide progressive and responsive service to the state’s motorists.
