More Phones, New Computer May Cut DMV Waiting Time

Officials at Department of Motor Vehicles’ branch offices in the Valley are promising what many customers undoubtedly believe the DMV is incapable of providing: good, fast service.

In the near future, DMV officials in the Valley predict, there will be no more lines that stretch to the door. And, they say, there will be far fewer phone calls to the DMV greeted with busy signals rather than operators.

Frank Smith, acting manager in the Arleta office, said: “Give us another two or three months. If we aren’t there, we will be close to it.”

The promises come at a time when the DMV, the perennial whipping boy of California motorists, is under siege once again for poor service. Critics maintain that a recent program in which motorists call for appointments has been a fiasco because DMV offices have not had enough phones.

Appointment System

Before the appointment system started, customers were served in the order in which they arrived. People may still go to the offices anytime, but they risk a longer wait than if they made an appointment.

There are several reasons why Valley officials are so optimistic.

The Valley offices in Arleta, Van Nuys and Winnetka--along with many branches throughout the state--are installing additional telephones to handle the daily barrage of calls. In addition, the three offices, as well as the rest of the urban offices in the state, are switching to a computer system that is expected to provide faster and better service.

“We are making changes that probably should have been made 20 years ago,” Smith said.

Quick Service

With the new computer system, which is plugged into the Sacramento data base, customers will receive their registration documents immediately and will get their titles within 10 days.

Previously, vehicle owners had to wait six to eight weeks to get their titles and registration material through the mail.

The computer system was installed in the Arleta office in February. The Winnetka office has installed part of its system, and the Van Nuys office computers will be in place shortly, officials said.

The Winnetka and Arleta offices have been able to cut customer waiting time, officials said. The week of March 4, customers at the Winnetka office, regardless of whether they had an appointment, waited 4 to 12 minutes for service. In comparison, waits at that office during the past year have usually ranged from 15 to 45 minutes, office manager Dominic Bartolone said.

Surveys of Waiting Times

The offices keep track of waiting times each week through surveys in which customers participate. The last customer in a given line is handed a piece of paper with the time written on it. When that customer reaches the counter, the clerk notes the time and gives the paper to a supervisor.

One afternoon visit to the Arleta office last week found short lines and no sign of hot tempers. But on another day last week the office was jammed because many people without appointments showed up at the same time.

Some critics blame crowded offices on an inadequate phone system. They contend that people will go to a DMV office and take their chances rather than wasting time trying to get through on the telephone. Valley DMV officials discount that theory, but they agree that the overworked phone system has been a problem.

But that, too, is changing in the Valley. Five more phone lines are being installed at the Arleta office, bringing the number to eight. In Van Nuys, the number of phone lines will be increased from 8 to 10.

On Friday, a reporter placed a series of calls to the appointment numbers at the Valley offices. Only at the Winnetka office, where four more lines were installed in February, did the reporter get through on every try.

Installing more phones in the Valley offices will solve only part of the problem, however. DMV officials were not sure the appointment system would work, so the 1984 Valley phone books did not list the numbers to call for appointments.

For most of the Valley the only phone number listed is 501-5321, which reaches a DMV office downtown. If a customer calls that number, it could take several attempts, and then minutes of listening to a monotone recorded message, before getting through to an operator. The customer is then given the appointment phone number for his respective Valley branch.

Customers may call information and ask for the DMV appointment number for the Valley branches.

The problem should be eliminated when new phone books are issued, Bartolone said. “I wish there was a way to get an emergency directory out,” he said.

Bartolone is so interested in what Valley motorists think of the new system that he asked that his unlisted office number--346-1131--be published in the newspaper.

All calls, he said with a bit of hesitation in his voice, are welcome.