Governor Proposes Plan to Cut DMV Wait Times

Gov. Dannel Malloy is proposing some changes to the DMV that his administration says will reduce the amount of time you have to wait for services.

The first part of Malloy’s plan is to allow the state to enter into contracts with private contractors, like AAA, to register vehicles. At this point, AAA is able to provide services for non-commercial drivers licenses.

"AAA has had a great partnership with the Department of Motor Vehicles since 1992.  We would certainly welcome the opportunity to expand services in any way that could better serve the driving public," AAA said in a statement.

He is also proposing to postpone issuing vessel titles until Dec. 31, 2018 and eliminating the ban on registering vehicles for people who have delinquent property taxes and parking tickets.

“We know that the way government does business in this new economic reality must change, that the customer – our neighbors and residents – must come first,” Malloy said in a statement.

He called long wait times at the DMV “simply unacceptable.

“That’s why we’re outlining commonsense proposals to lower them. This enhanced flexibility best serves the customer, allows private contractors to conduct most routine motor vehicle transactions, and most importantly, decreases wait times at the DMV,” Malloy said in a statement.

In postponing vessel titles, Malloy’s administration says it will free up more backroom staff resources to address reducing wait times in branches and limit additional traffic in the immediate future within DMV branch offices.

The plan to eliminate the ban on renewing a vehicle registration or registering any other motor vehicle, snowmobile, all-terrain vehicle or vessel for anyone with outstanding tax payments or delinquent parking tickets would cut wait times by eliminating multiple visits from people who are denied a registration until local taxes or parking tickets are paid, according to Malloy’s office.

“The DMV is going through a massive shift that should have happened decades ago,” Malloy said in a statement. “Transitions in an agency of this size and importance are always difficult and always see challenges – that’s probably why no one took on these massive issues before our administration. It’s clearly our hope that Republicans and Democrats can come together and agree to lower the wait times.”

The DMV is also under new leadership since former Commissioner Andres Ayala resigned days after the DMV promised to make good after a glitch in its new computer system caused police to wrongly pull over drivers for having suspended registrations.

Dennis Murphy, who served as Deputy Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Labor, is serving as the acting commissioner of the DMV.   

Read the full bill here. 

The bill has been referred to the committee on transportation.

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