The average wait for those with appointments throughout California was 4.2 minutes. Statewide, the average wait for transactions without appointments was 14 minutes in November, the most recent period for which figures were available.
#Canoga park ca dmv audio test registration#
Appointments for a written or behind-the-wheel license test or registration usually can be made at Valley offices within one to 10 days, officials say. “Our offices are still able to function effectively.”įigures for average waiting times indicate that consumers can avoid the DMV blues by making an appointment. “This should take some of the load off an office that is overburdened now,” Gengler said. The Arleta office, where the driver’s license line sometimes stretches out the front door, will lose five of its 50 employees to the Reseda office. Due to budget constraints, staff members are being transferred from existing offices to the new branches. The new facilities will reduce the driving time for those who live near them. At the Arleta office, consumers speak Spanish more frequently than English. The impact is visible at each of the Valley offices, where long lines are dominated by Latinos. The Van Nuys office, for example, had a 29% jump in driver’s license applications in 1988, Ward said. Last year’s federal amnesty program for illegal immigrants significantly increased the number of those seeking licenses and vehicle registrations, officials said. The Valley area was chosen for two of the 16 offices scheduled to be opened statewide this year because it has experienced an influx of residents, particularly immigrants, in recent years. This has reduced planning, budgeting and construction time from as long as five years to six to eight months.
To speed the process, the DMV is leasing the new offices from businesses or individuals rather than building them, DMV spokesman William Gengler said.
DMV officials say this reflects the seriousness of local bureaucratic congestion and their determination to relieve it. Moreover, the DMV opened an office in North Hollywood in November and plans to open two more-in Reseda and Simi Valley-later this year, a substantial increase in the number of Valley-area offices. “We cannot accommodate all of the customers.” “I don’t think the advantages we have in automation have kept up with the growth in population,” said Yolanda Ericsson, who manages the Canoga Park office. In addition, those who want to bypass the lines by making appointments often are deterred by multiple busy signals and recorded messages. The average waiting times in San Fernando Valley offices are well above the statewide averages, according to DMV figures. Officials acknowledge that an occasional patron even passes out in the process. Despite the much-heralded statewide computerization and adoption of an appointment system four years ago, residents are still creeping along in DMV lines that seem to mirror freeway gridlock.
Linda Haim, a Northridge social worker, had taken the morning off from her job to renew her driver’s license and car registration at the state Department of Motor Vehicles office in Van Nuys.Īfter a frustrating 1 1/2 hours-including 55 minutes in a slow-moving line for her written license test-she left with only her temporary driver’s license and frayed nerves.
0 kommentar(er)
