Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2002 | 11:05 a.m.
The Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles hasn't been able to reduce waiting time to reach its goal of one hour per customer, so it's trying some new ideas.
While DMV records show that there have been steady reductions in average wait times at its Las Vegas and Reno offices the last three years, officials say growing customer counts need to be leveled off for the goal to be reached.
To achieve that the DMV is encouraging customers to use the Internet, phone or mail to renew registrations; proposing an ATM-like kiosk in one Las Vegas office to allow cash or credit card renewals; and considering registration services at new car dealers and smog stations in Clark and Washoe counties.
Officials say it has been a tough sell getting registration renewal customers, who account for less than one third of all DMV clients, to use alternatives.
Department Director Ginny Lewis told the Legislative Interim Finance Committee this week that more than 530,000 people visited the offices last year when they could have renewed by means other than in-person transactions.
DMV spokesman Kevin Malone said a concern shared by people surveyed by the DMV is that if they use alternative means they might not get their registrations and stickers in the mail before their old ones expire, and thus they will be stopped and ticketed by police.
"When the renewal is entered on our secure website, that information is immediately shared with law enforcement," he said. "If you are stopped, police will look on the computer and it will show a renewed registration."
Malone says the DMV has for two years met its goal of getting stickers and registrations mailed within five days of receiving them. Customers are advised to mail their renewals two weeks before they are due. Also, he said, online registration renewal stickers are put in the mail the next business day.
Still, statistics show that at least four of every 10 renewal customers choose to stand in lines at the DMV.
In July, 47 percent of the 112,950 renewal notices were processed at a DMV counter. In August, 42 percent of the 123,156 renewal notices were processed at DMV offices.
DMV records show that in July, the average wait time at a DMV in Las Vegas was 81 minutes, down from 86 minutes in July 2001 and 91 minutes in July 2000. Statewide, DMV waits were 74 minutes in July, compared to 81 minutes in July 2001 and 90 minutes in July 2000. August figures have yet to be calculated.
In July, monthly customer counts at DMV offices in Clark County were below the previous year's total for the first time in two years -- a sign that perhaps more people are beginning to get the message about alternative renewals.
In July, 102,310 locals visited a DMV to conduct business, compared to 103,724 in 2001 and 93,558 in July 2000.
One of the problems is that many of those customers pay by cash or wait until the final day for renewing their license plates, so they must go to the DMV.
In a pilot project, Lewis outlined plans to place a kiosk in one of the offices in Las Vegas so that those customers who want to pay by cash or credit card can use that unit, rather than standing in line.
Such customers would be able to use the automatic teller or kiosk in one of the Las Vegas offices. The Carey Street office does the highest amount of cash transactions, she said.
Another problem is in a town like Las Vegas where people experience long waits at banks, utility offices, buffets, etc., alternative services may not be in great demand. For instance, people at a busy DMV office in Henderson Tuesday weren't complaining much about their 60 to 85-minute waits.
Sara Ohayon, a Southern Nevada resident of 35 years, recently moved to Henderson and was renewing her registration on the day it was due.
"I normally use the mail, but I didn't get around to it this time, so here I sit waiting," she said matter-of-factly. "But this is not that bad compared to lines at other places like Social Security."
Mark Salmon, who recently moved here from Tucson, was in line to register his car -- that process accounts for two-thirds of the DMV's counter customers -- when he read a sign informing him of renewal alternatives.
"I didn't know there were other ways to renew in this state -- I'll definitely go online to renew," he said. "Waiting here is not my first choice of things I want to do this afternoon, but it isn't real bad."
Lewis also outlined plans to the committee to expand registration services to new car dealers and smog stations.
There's been a trial program with Las Vegas auto dealers Shack Findlay and Harley-Davidson to register new cars or cycles sold at the dealership, rather than requiring the customer to go to the motor vehicle office.
Lewis said she plans to extend that to all dealers on a volunteer basis.
Three smog inspection stations already handle registration renewals for customers in Clark and Washoe counties. Lewis said there are 400 emission stations in those counties. If she got half of them to sign up, that would help reduce the lines, she said. Setting up the registration renewal program at the smog stations in those two counties would cost an estimated $250,000.
She said a $10 fee is allowed for those emission stations that take care the registration renewal.
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