All of the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) offices are going to be closed for a five-day stretch beginning at 2:00 p.m.of the afternoon of Friday, Feb. 13. DMV plans to have its offices reopened in time for normal business hours on Wednesday, Feb. 18.
DMV says that the closure is necessary to allow it to switch to a new information technology system and that part of what they need to do is transfer approximately 30 million records to the new system.
DMV has been working with technology provider FAST Enterprises in a contract running from April 1, 2024, to March 31, 2038 and carrying a total price of $177.3 million.
During the transfer period, in addition to DMV offices being closed DMV online transactions and phone services will be unavailable.
“With one consolidated, state-of-the-art system, we will be replacing hundreds of software applications, some of which date back to the days of Nelson Rockefeller,” said Mark J.F. Schroeder, who is DMV commissioner and chair of the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee. “I truly believe it will give our staff the ability to serve New Yorkers better, faster, and more comprehensively than ever before.”
Schroeder noted that the planned transition has been in the works for about two years.
“I and everyone at DMV are so proud of the hard work and effort that has gone into developing this new platform over the last two years,” Schroeder said. “Our staff has worked tirelessly to train and prepare for this change; however, we ask for patience as we adjust to the new system in the days immediately after it launches.”
DMV explains that the new system will eliminate having to move between platforms when handling transactions. It will also expand the transactions that can be completed online.
DMV says that it plans to make a second major technology upgrade in 2028.
According to information from Sullivan County, FAST Enterprises LLC has implemented similar systems in more than 20 other states for the modernization of their technology platforms and service delivery. Some of the information technology systems used by New York’s DMV are more than 50 years old. DMV summarizes the goal of the effort as making the DMV more secure, stable, and agile and to provide DMV customers with more efficient, secure, and convenient services.
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office described the DMV technology upgrade as part of a broader initiative to re-imagine the way DMV does business, which has included dozens of improvements such as greatly expanding online live chat and enhancements to the DMV online transaction portal. They point out that DMV also introduced online pre-screening for some of the most complicated transactions like applying for a REAL ID or Enhanced ID and exchanging an out of state license. The DMV also introduced an appointment scheduling system to significantly reduce the amount of time customers wait to be served in an office, which the agency says is now a record low of 15 minutes.
