Our MVC (Motor Vehicle Commission) formally know as the DMV (Division of Motor Vehicle) has been stumbling down the path of bad relations recently. So much so that Governor Christie has instituted what reforms he can and asked the legislature to formulate a bill for the rest of the fixes needed.
The wait times to renew/get a license or register a vehicle have be come impossibly long in the past few months. Some of the problems stem from outdated computer systems and others from personnel problems. Why is this happening after all the problems that were cleared up in the distant past?
Well one of the problems is a perpetual one; not enough money spent where it is really needed and of course there have been reports of rudeness perpetrated by some of the MVC employees.
The MVC’s computer system is a dinosaur and seriously needs to be replaced by a modern well written set of programs running on an up to date server. But our wonderful legislators do not seem to understand that money must be spent to better serve you the motoring public.
Will there be a study commissioned by either the Governor or the legislature? I hope not as all I see this as being a stalling tactic and in the end any study might not recommend that any money be spent on a new computer system. Our wonderful legislators love to spend our money on their special projects, but hate to spend it on what we really need!
Of course the director for New Jersey’s Communications Workers of America union, Hetty Rosenstein, had to chime in with this, “After over a decade of smooth sailing for New Jersey drivers, problems at the MVC returned under Governor Christie — when he laid off workers and slashed the budget for the agency. Folks should think twice before rushing to back Christie’s call to make security shortcuts by using a private agency for registration and having ID express lane checks.” She is referring to the idea of using AAA agencies to handle registrations at their offices. She is just too quick to attack and also she made no productive suggestions. Come on Hetty your union must have some constructive suggestions.
Christie also said that “You never want to go to MVC. It’s not something that you look forward to on the calendar and plan during the week. We want to make this as easy as possible for folks, and that’s an ongoing process.” How about letting us bypass human beings at the agencies and use some kind of computer kiosk?
The Governor also stated that the computer systems are decades old and are due for upgrades. He also went on to state that MVC is in the midst of technological improvements, but they are expected to take a few years to complete. My question is why are making these improvements taking so long and how do we speedup the process?
The ball is in your court Governor Christie. I am waiting with anticipation to see if you really can fix things at the MVC or not.
That is my opinion- Jumpin Jersey Mike
