Rob Horowitz: DMV Improvements are a Tangible Chafee Accomplishment
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
When Gov. Linolcn Chafee appointed Lisa. S. Holley as Interim Director of the Rhode Island Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV), he noted that “(i)t is simply unacceptable, especially in this economy, that many Rhode Islanders must sometimes take a day from work to conduct business at the DMV....My goal is to make the DMV a model of exceptional customer service and my instructions are very simple: fix the DMV."
And fix it he has. Average wait times at the Registry have been reduced to under an hour with the vast majority completed within a half hour. Routine license renewals can now be conducted online and DMV customers can now pay with credit cards.
Because nearly all Rhode Islanders at one point or another will have contact with the DMV, how it functions plays a significant role in shaping people’s opinions of state government and state employees. Just as long, frustrating waits and seemingly uncaring and inefficient employees at the DMV contributed to negative impressions of state government over the years, the new, improved operation of the DMV is likely to help create a more positive impression over time.
Last week I took my daughter to the Cranston registry to obtain her learners permit and found that the improvements lived up to their billing. Despite the fact that we disregarded the DMV’s advice to avoid the Registry the day before or after a holiday, it took less than 45 minutes for my daughter to take the test and schedule her field drivers test. The DMV staff were highly courteous, went out of their way to put my daughter at ease and worked quickly. She passed with flying colors, although, as any parent will tell you, that's a mixed blessing.
Chafee made dramatically improving the functioning of the DMV a high priority of his Administration and this is one area where he has delivered. But it is important for the Chafee Administration and succeeding Administrations to build on and lock in these improvements. This will take continued good management as well as constant oversight and vigilance. But it is important to highlight this accomplishment, which shows that state government can work and deliver essential services in a customer-friendly and efficient way.
Rob Horowitz is a strategic and communications consultant who provides general consulting, public relations, direct mail services and polling for national and state issue organizations, various non-profits and elected officials and candidates. He is an Adjunct Professor of Political Science at the University of Rhode Island.
