DMV's New Self-Serve Kiosks Aim To Cut Down Wait Times

SAN JOSE (KPIX 5) -- Officials from the California Department of Motor Vehicles, as well as city leaders, debuted the first self-service kiosk installed in a Bay Area library on Monday.

The kiosk, which is at the Santa Clara Central Park Library, is among 151 installed statewide and two dozen in the Bay Area. The machines, however, can only process car registrations.

The kiosks come after months of complaints of long wait times at DMV offices across the state. Some customers told KPIX 5 that they waited in line five hours or more.

The agency received $16 million in July to cut down on wait times.

"Oh, I dread it, I dread it, I absolutely dread it," said Erin Fullenwider, who was going on hour one to get a title transfer. "I hate coming here."

But Michael Schultz, who used the self-service terminal for the first time, was smiling on his way out of a DMV office in San Jose.

"I rather enjoyed it," he said. "Beats standing in line."

He said it took him less than five minutes to renew his registration.

A DMV spokesperson could not immediately say what impact the kiosks had on wait times, and added he would need at least a couple of days to pull numbers.

Fullenwider said she still feels like the lines are long at DMV offices despite the new terminals.

"The more automated they can make that stuff, the better," she said.

According to a DMV report, the average wait time for customers without an appointment was reduced by an hour and 24 minutes in August, September and October.