EDITORIAL: DMV merits pat on the back for easing wait times

Many people consider a visit to the Department of Motor Vehicles to be on par with a colon exam. The agency’s reputation, much like that of the U.S. Postal Service, has never been one of convenience, efficiency and fine customer service no matter in which state you reside.

But when Nevada DMV officials do something right, they deserve the hosannas.

Five or six years back, the average wait time at some state DMV offices was north of two hours. The agency, charged with licensing Nevada’s 1.8 million drivers and registering their vehicles, struggled to deal with a variety of new state and federal requirements, leading to long lines and frustrated motorists, particularly in Southern Nevada. A litany of complaints caught the attention of lawmakers and the governor.

Since then, DMV officials have fine-tuned programs intended to blunt the pain of a typical visit. Drivers can now easily bypass lines by scheduling appointments. They may also use kiosks at various locations outside of satellite offices for certain tasks. Many taxpayer interactions with the agency can now be completed online.

But for those drivers who must venture to a DMV office, the news is much improved. The agency announced last week that, despite an increasing state population, wait times improved at the six largest DMV locations by 42 percent over the last quarter of 2019.

During the same period in 2018, a walk-in client could expect to wait an average of 69 minutes at one of the DMV’s major service centers. In October, November and December of last year, that number was down to 40 minutes, even though the agency saw a 22 percent increase in traffic over the same period.

Julie Butler, DMV director, credited a new lobby management system with helping achieve the progress. “I’m very pleased with these decreased wait times and the performance of both our new system and our staff,” she said. “The DMV team is committed to serving our customers as efficiently as possible, and we’re doing just that.”

Make no mistake, idling in a DMV lobby for two-thirds of an hour is nobody’s idea of a hot time. But given that the agency is often portrayed as a symbol of bureaucratic sloth and ineptitude, Ms. Butler and her crew merit much credit for improving the DMV experience for Nevada drivers. Let’s hope the progress continues.