Inspired by a four-hour odyssey to renew my driver’s license this morning…
The place you have to go to to register your car or get your driver’s license, whatever you call it. Is it a terrible bureaucratic experience everywhere? Is there anywhere that has made it, if not pleasant, at least painless?
Having lived in California, Montana, and Oklahoma, I can unequivocally say that the experience at the DMV was exactly the same… awful. Long wait times, an arduous process to make the simplest change, and bored bureaucratic employees who are clearly paid by the hour. I hope dopers outside the US can talk about a better experience where they live.
Previously discussed often. No, not universally bad.
Mostly done online in the UK, though there are some cases where you have to do it in person at the Post Office (which handles a lot of such paperwork) or by post to the DVLA.
Actually learning and testing to get a licence is more thorough than it was when I learnt, but the paperwork/admin is quite straightforward.
We did this not even two months ago. To the tune of ~70 posts.
Here in Luxembourg, our equivalent of the DMV is well organized, properly staffed, and professionally run. No problem at all. Walk in the door, know your place in the queue within seconds, wait maybe 10 minutes, take care of what you need in another 5, leave. Done.
I know “capable government and competent state service” is an oxymoron in the US, but it really is achievable, and I certainly recommend it.
It’s wonderful in (rural) Oregon. Took about 20 minutes in and out to get my license and title and plates transfered here. It costs half as much as California’s and lasts twice as long to boot.
In California it took about 3 hours. About 1.5 in Washington state. In Chicago, nearly 7. Chicago’s system was uniquely, unbelievably terrible, with the worst procedures, staff, and environments I’ve ever encountered. Every step of the way was designed to frustrate and maximize inefficiency.
By contrast the Oregon one was so nice I almost look forward to going back.
Pennsylvania allows you to do most things online. On the rare occasions that I need to go into the DMV, I pick a slow day during the week (like a Tuesday or Wednesday morning) and I’m usually in and out in no time.
I use the Gettysburg DMV, for what that’s worth. Small town DMVs don’t tend to be too bad.
When I went with my son to the York DMV, the lines were a lot longer and the wait time was significantly worse.
I suspect it’s mostly a small town vs. big city thing. When I lived in Baltimore, dealing with the DMV (actually called the MVA there - Motor Vehicle Administration) was absolutely miserable. I haven’t lived there in several decades though. I have no idea what they are like now.
Title transfers don’t have to be done by the DMV here. You can just go to ye ol local title transfer shop. I’ve never had much of a wait there either, and you walk out with your new plate, so there’s no waiting for that either (unless you’re getting something special like an antique plate).
I’m in Maryland. I don’t know about Baltimore but in DC-adjacent counties the MVA has installed self-service kiosks that you can do most stuff that doesn’t involve a test or photograph without needing to talk to a person. And there’s a self-service emissions test kiosk out in the parking lot, but that is less reliable. It randomly goes “out of order” between customers.
For stuff you need to sit down and talk to a person about, you can and should make an appointment. They are pretty good about being on-time with their scheduled appointments. Getting a new license last time I made an appointment and was in and out of there in 15 minutes.
Walk-ins are who will stand and wait all day.
As I said in the linked thread, my experiences with the few DMV offices in Philadelphia have actually been quick and pleasant. The last office I went to was in center city. So, I do not think it is simply a difference of rural/small town versus high population urban area.
Michigan’s Secretary of State office used to be the dismal cliched experience of taking a number, which would be something like #57, and looking at the current red digital ticket readout, which was at something like #4. So you’d find a hard plastic chair to sit in for hours and wait.
Now, I think as a result of the pandemic, it’s all appointment-only. You can usually get an appointment in a few days to a week. Which is slightly inconvenient for someone who doesn’t plan their visit in advance and hoped to get in same day, but once your appt. does come up, you’re in and out in minutes.
Yep, I do all my renewals online. Quick and easy.
Tangent: vehicle inspection.
On Saturday I noticed my inspection sticker had expired in October, meaning I would get a hefty fine if any police officer happened to notice the old orange sticker.
Yesterday morning I went to the DMV for inspection. There was nobody in front. A guy motioned me to drive in, took my documents, and asked me to walk half way down the inspection lane.
3 minutes later another guy waved me over and said I was good to go, with a new sticker, good for two years.
This stunned me. The vehicle inspection process in NJ is a shadow of what it used to be. Back in the day they would test everything, even jacking up the front end and checking steering tires for free play. Nowadays I think they plug something into the OBD-II port and possibly a sniffer in the tailpipe.
Good riddance to the old days. I used to sit in a very long line for an hour or more every year for inspection.
We have yearly inspection in PA. You take your car to a licensed mechanic who checks it over. Seems like a good idea, but my car’s horn stopped working 4 years ago. I’ve had my car inspected 4 times and they haven’t noticed yet.
I actually checked, and yes, a working horn audible for a specific distance is required.
As does Minneapolis, once you’ve gotten your car registered here. Send in a check and they send you the one-year sticker (which I wish was for two years). And no emissions testing.
Portland wasn’t too bad, although you had to get an emissions test every two years, which meant driving to one of their centers. But all of the test bays were always open and it was efficient even if there was a wait.
As I think I said in the other thread: not awful here.
I also suspect this; but am not sure. Last time I lived in a city I wasn’t yet driving; and it was a whole lot of years ago.
Mostly it’s a supply vs. demand thing. In growing areas, government provision is behind the current population. In stable or shrinking areas the opposite holds.
During the year I lived in a small town the wait at the contract DMV office was very short. After I drove the 45 minutes from my town to the town where it was located. And 45 minutes back. Once you add that in, then no, it was not very convenient.
Bottom line is that the USA loves to under-resource government then complain about lousy government service. Other countries understand that connection, resource adequately, and the taxpayers receive good service.
As I say on so many topics: “You don’t always get what you pay for. But you almost never get what you don’t pay for.”
The DMV I went to in New York was surprisingly helpful and efficient. But the DMVs in Virginia and Texas fully deserve the Zootopia sloth reputation.
California does at least take appointments, and if you have the foresight to make an appointment the experience is pretty good. Having an appointment pretty much lets you jump to the front of the line. But I will concede that the appointment slots at my local DMV seem to fill up like a month in advance. If you don’t have an appointment and just show up as a walk-in, the experience is pretty much what others described: take a number, then sit in a chair for several hours.
The small town DMV office in the town where I grew up wasn’t bad at all, at least when I lived there ~25 years ago. You could show up and wait maybe 10 minutes to get whatever business you needed done.
Car license renewals yes, but drivers’ licenses need you to go back sometimes if they want a new picture, or if they want you to take a new eye test. I’m sure the details vary among states, but In California at my age I have to go back to the DMV office in person about every ten years.
Having said that, if you have an appointment it’s pretty painless. If you don’t have an appointment it’s horrible. I’ve had both experiences over the last decade.