DMV appointment system returns soon in Las Vegas Valley
After more than three months of waiting, Las Vegas Valley motorists soon will be able to skip the line at area Department of Motor Vehicle offices.
The DMV’s new queuing system is set to roll out March 25 at the four Las Vegas Valley offices, according the Kevin Malone, DMV spokesman.
The system, developed by Swedish company Qmatic, will be installed and tested by the individual offices next week, ahead of the full rollout the following week.
Las Vegas has been without the appointment service since Jan. 1, as the DMV moved toward implementation of the new system. The Reno and Carson City DMV offices saw the system rolled out over the course of the last month.
During January and February, customers, for the most part, were OK not having an appointment system in Las Vegas because wait times weren’t climbing, according to Tonya Laney, a field services administrator with the DMV. With March kicking off the DMV’s busy season, customers definitely want those appointments back, she said.
“We are ensuring we get the correct system out there and have the appointments to accommodate those customers and make sure that it’s done right,” Laney said. “We’re very confident with the success that we’ve seen in the north that we’re getting the best possible system in the south.”
The benchmark waiting time for walk-in customers is under 1 hour. With an appointment, the wait is under 10 minutes, Laney said.
With that in mind, the DMV set out a goal to become an appointment-based agency through the the new system, Malone said.
“If you have to make a DMV visit we want your first thought to be to make an appointment,” he said.
Doubling number of appointments
To enable that to occur, the number of available appointments is set to double with the new system.
Over 1.2 million appointments will be available annually statewide under the new system, jumping up from 663,000 with the old system.
Cumulatively, the four Las Vegas area offices will offer 16,550 appointments weekly, up from 12,000 under the old system.
No additional staffing is expected with the added time slots, Malone said. With the new system, appointments can be adjusted to accommodate the workforce at a given time.
The new system offers better capabilities and options over the previous system. Eight services will be available for appointment setting, including the newly added driver’s license written tests, reinstating a suspended driver’s license or registration.
“On top of that we’re splitting out some of the services,” Malone said. “Prior it was just make an appointment for general services. Now you can choose between new driver’s license or renewal, new registration or renewal or a title.”
Already receiving feedback from residents in Northern Nevada, the department is planning on adding an additional feature.
Because offices are seeing customers book double appointments to handle different transactions at the same time, Laney said the department is planning to add the ability to book multiple services under the same appointment.
“Say they’re coming in to do registration and their driver’s license, they’re booking two appointments, because it’s two services,” she said. “We are going to add multiple transactions into the drop down menu. We’ll be implementing that soon.”
Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on Twitter.