DMV says wait times drop after Dash Pass move

CARSON CITY — Wait times have improved at busy urban Department of Motor Vehicle offices since the agency scrubbed remote access to its Dash Pass queue system, officials said Friday.

The program was unveiled in September but remote access to reserve a place in line was halted Wednesday. Officials said too many people used the online service to secure a place in line but then failed to show up, causing further delays and frustration for those standing in line.

"Early results indicate we are moving in the right direction," DMV Director Troy Dillard said in a statement. "We did not take this decision lightly, understanding that many of our customers found the removed access to DashPass very helpful."

At the busy Las Vegas office on Sahara Avenue, the DMV said the average daily wait time dropped to 41 minutes, down from 112 minutes before remote access was abolished. That equates to a savings of 71 minutes per customer. With an average volume of 1,249 customers per day, it's the equivalent of 1,478 hours of customer time not wasted in line.

Other offices saw similar drops in wait times. The office on Flamingo fell to an average wait time of 80 minutes from 125. At Decatur it dropped to 82 minutes from 123, while Henderson fell to 76 minutes from 138, the agency said.

Combined, the change at the four offices in Southern Nevada and one in Reno have reduced customer waits by 5,029 hours per day based on volume, according to DMV.

Dillard said it has also improved parking and reduced overtime paid to DMV staffer who stayed late to process transactions for people in line.

Dillard said the agency continues to face challenges to process transactions quicker.

"We still have more customer demand on a daily basis than we have service capacity," he said, adding that new positions authorized by the 2015 Legislature should further help reduce wait times once those employees complete training and are manning service windows in September.

The DMV also plans to implement a new appointment system as early as this fall. Customers who make an appointment in advance will be required to check in at the DMV office when they arrive, a move officials hope will prevent no-shows from clogging the system.

The state's online system is under a four-year, $520,348 contract with Pasadena, Calif.-based QLess Inc., and has been used in motor vehicle departments in Texas, Michigan, Kansas and Missouri.

The Dash Pass line management system will continue to be used by the department with only remote access discontinued. Motorists can still leave a cellphone number to get line updates after first checking in at the information desk in the office.

Remote access is still available at rural DMV offices.

Contact Sandra Chereb at schereb@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901. Find her on Twitter: @SandraChereb.