RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A state report shows about one-fifth of the people going to Virginia’s Department of Motor Vehicles customer service centers are doing so unnecessarily, costing them a $5 fee and increasing wait times for all customers, especially those in Northern Virginia.
A report by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission issued Tuesday found 866,000 customers went to the DMV in fiscal 2014 for services that could have been done online, over the phone or by mail.
According to the report, nearly all of those people who went to the DMV were for vehicle registration renewals. The DMV’s website processes a third of all transactions.
The report also found that DMV customer service centers in heavily populated Northern Virginia have longer wait times than the rest of the state. In Arlington the average wait time is 47 minutes, compared to 24 minutes statewide.
And customers are more likely to wait longer than an hour at Northern Virginia branches. The Tysons Corner service center has the highest volume, averaging 557 customers per day.
The report recommends that the DMV reduce wait times by expanding, consolidating or relocating branches. The DMV should also develop a plan to make the DMV’s online portal more enticing to drivers so they don’t have to visit a service center or conduct their business by phone.
The report also recommends that the DMV should reduce call center wait times and should improve security for its databases, which house Social Security numbers, addresses and credit card information for millions of Virginians.
WTOP’s Amanda Iacone contributed to this report.
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