Wethersfield Pilot Program Paving the Way for Shorter Wait Times at DMV Branches, Governor Says

WETHERSFIELD, CT — Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on Wednesday said the state Department of Motor Vehicles is on track to essentially cut wait times in half.

Malloy did so in touting a pilot program launched at the Wethersfield and Enfield DMV offices in the fall that resulted in a 55 percent reduction in waiting.

He said the "efficiency measures" are being rolled out to other DMV branches across the state, "in order to duplicate the results that are providing more conveniences to consumers through the introduction of certain time-saving measures, the loosening of certain requirements, and the elimination of red tape."

The governor added, “For the last few decades, our state’s DMV systems needed a serious upgrade and modernization, but those tough decisions were put off for too long. Transitions in an agency of this size and importance are always difficult and always see challenges – that’s probably why no one took on these massive issues before our administration.

"State government needs to find ways to improve customer service in a cost-effective manner, and with this series of improvements, we’re doing just that."

DMV Commissioner Michael Bzdyra said it was a matter of focusing on "end-to-end customer service."

Malloy said that in July, he asked DMV officials to undertake a broad-based analysis of the reasons for long wait times and then find solutions to reduce them.

A pilot program was launched in September and October at the branch offices in Wethersfield and Enfield.

Malloy said analysis led to three primary alterations as part of the pilot:

• Opening DMV branch doors 15 minutes early and reviewing paperwork and compliance requirements for as many customers as possible to smooth out the early morning peak volume and allow all employees to be serving customers as soon as the offices formally open.
• Implementing a "quick ticket service" with the primary responsibility of giving customers a service ticket immediately upon arrival at a DMV branch. It eliminated waiting to obtain a ticket and then waiting again to be served.
• Making available a customer advocate who has the primary responsibility of checking all paperwork and compliance requirements after customers have a ticket. The goal was to ensure that customers are fully prepared and can be handled more quickly and efficiently upon being served.

Results of the pilot include:

• An overall customer wait-time reduction of 1 hour, 17 minutes to 34.5 minutes – a 55 percent decrease.
• A 90 percent success rate in the amount of customers who were able to successfully complete their transactions because of the pre-checks that are being performed by a customer advocate upon the customers’ arrival.
• A 10 percent reduction in the number of repeat visits that are needed as the result of form changes and the elimination of red tape. That means about 10 percent more customers successfully completed their transactions during their first visit and did not need to return.
• The accuracy of branch office wait-times that are posted on the DMV’s website has increased because the process flow was adjusted to give customers a ticket when they arrived.

Beginning in November, the DMV began rolling out these changes in its other branch offices across the state, and they are being monitored daily to gauge effects on improvements.

See the changes in wait times during the month of November 2016 as compared to the same month during the previous year here.

Photo Credit: CT.Gov