As issues at the DMV persist, we’re getting a glimpse at what the department is doing to improve the experience.
Commissioner Paul Tine spoke at a panel at Thursday's NC Transportation Summit in Raleigh.
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At the panel, Tine emphasized it's all about collaboration. Tine was flanked by leaders of neighboring states' DMV organizations.
The discussion was all about improving the customer experience, which is obviously needed throughout North Carolina.
The hour-long conversation was centered around modernizing DMVs to provide better customer service by incorporating the latest technologies.
The dialogue was driving toward the ultimate goal of reducing lengthy wait times and improving accessibility for everyone.
Tine took over the struggling department nearly four months ago. He said they’re already looking at ways to become more efficient.
From new scanners to technology upgrades that have reduced hundreds of thousands of potential physical interactions at DMV locations.
But above all, it’s getting more people working at DMVs, something Tine said is being pushed by Gov. Josh Stein and legislature.
"The governor said you need to hire these people in 30 days, which is unheard of inside of state government," said Tine. "And government in general. It’s difficult to do that. That mandate allowed OSHR and commerce to come together and assist us. We did job fairs all over the state, we were interviewing people…and there will be an announcement from the governor with the exact number, but we have moved mountains and we're pleased with that."
The summit’s meeting of the minds included approaches from the old school to fresher ideas.
"I’m using a COBAL-[common business-oriented language] based tech that existed before I was born and I’m an old fart," said Kevin Shwedo with the South Carolina DMV.
Gerald Lackey with the Virginia DMV said their organization is experimenting with more modern strageties.
"We started experimenting with AI in specific areas that would be beneficial to us and were time intensive," Lackey said.
Strategies from state DMV leaders to our north and south.
Turning our NC DMV Commissioner Paul Tine from panelist to participant.
"One of them was just really understanding the profile of your examiners and those that are willing there, and then building programs in order to make sure that we can keep those folks on the front line doing," Tine said.
It’s been nearly four months since Tine took over. Thursday, he shared some highlights on DMV improvements so far, like more people, better hardware such as scanners and legislative changes for ID renewals.
Time savings and additional staff could open them up to complete more than a million more transactions every year.
All these developments boil down to improving wait times. Tine says until last week, the DMV didn’t know exactly how long people were waiting, which was about 2 hours and 45 minutes on average.
He said that was "not anywhere near where we need to be."
"Now we know inside, we know outside, and we can coach to the outcomes that we're looking for," Tine said.
And in August, when the mini-budget passed and funds opened up for 40 new driver license examiners, Tine said Gov. Stein told him to get it done in 30 days.
Tine wouldn't reveal if they've hit that goal, but said he expects the governor to make an announcement about that soon.