COLUMBIA--With Gov. Mark Sanford in attendance, Department of Motor Vehicles officials unveiled six new programs Thursday that are expected to further reduce waiting time.
DMV Director-Designate Marcia Adams announced the programs, expected to begin within the next six months: starting electronic vehicle registration through car dealerships; allowing 15-year-olds to take the written driver's exam at school; creating a service to let insurance companies communicate electronically with the DMV; allowing counties to issue registration renewals and decals; easing constraints on locations for acquiring and renewing commercial driver's licenses; and adding two online services.
"This is just a good example of how we are trying to make it easier for our customers to do business with us, so they don't have to take time off of work to come to the DMV," Adams said.
Improving the DMV has been a priority for Sanford. The governor long has seen the agency's problems as indicative of the state's problems and has used them in his push for government restructuring.
Last June, Sanford signed the DMV reform bill that separated the agency from the Department of Public Safety, making it a standalone member of his cabinet. Adams, the division's principal administrator under DPS, was named director-designate. The Senate has yet to confirm her.
Also in June, the governor announced a number of initiatives meant to improve services at the DMV, including customer service training for employees, implementation of Saturday office hours and greater use of online services.On Thursday Sanford said the average wait time in September 2003 was 15 minutes, compared to 66 minutes in September 2002. "That is a 77 percent reduction and I think it is a remarkable accomplishment."
A number of the initiatives announced Thursday will begin in selected locations before going statewide.
The electronic vehicle registration, for example, has only 16 dealers lined up. Of those, only six are fully functional. In the past two weeks, those six dealerships have processed more than 500 registrations.
"They are giving people the tag, registration and decal," Adams said. "The car drives off the lot with everything it needs. And those are 500 people who don't have to come down to the DMV."
Adams said the remaining 10 dealerships will be ready within the next two weeks, and she expects the program to be open to all qualified dealerships by March.
The move to allow students to take the driver's exam at school starts in Aiken County Schools first. South Aiken High School was scheduled to begin the program this week, but weather conditions delayed the start.
The program to allow counties to issue renewals and decals will begin in four counties: Dorchester, Anderson, Georgetown and Clarendon.
Residents can now pay their vehicle taxes in the county office but must wait for their registrations in the mail. People often wait until the last minute and end up coming to the DMV, Adams said.
The new program will give drivers who go to the county instant results, which should reduce the burden on DMV.
The burden of being a test case falls to Patsy Knight, Dorchester County Treasurer. She said she thinks the program will be wonderful.
"One-stop shopping," she said. "I'm sure it will increase our workload some, but until we get into it, I just won't know how much."
DMV is still a few months away from starting its two new online programs: motor vehicle records transactions and vehicle inquiry transactions.
The records program will allow people to purchase a copy of their driving records online. Security measures are being investigated now, and the program is expected to begin in March.
The DMV handles roughly 30,000 vehicle inquiries a year. Most such inquiries come from financial institutions or insurance companies, both of which are interested in odometer readings and lienholder information. Those records are expected to be available online by June.
