Golden State Today

The state of California is making it easier for residents to access the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) by bringing more services online. Over the past few years, the DMV has digitized many services, improved efficiency, and made more than 90% of transactions available online. The DMV now offers an improved online customer experience that is faster, easier, and can be personalized.

As part of California’s efforts to increase government efficiency, the DMV is expanding its digital transformation efforts. Governor Gavin Newsom stated, "The state is increasing government efficiency and continuing to deliver critical services for Californians. As part of these efforts, we are making more resources available at peoples’ fingertips and offering a faster and easier online experience at the DMV."

Starting June 3, the DMV will reduce potential wait times by requiring certain transactions to be completed through alternative options such as online platforms and self-serve kiosks found at both DMV locations and retail stores like grocery stores. These transactions include simple vehicle registration renewals not past due dates, driver’s license renewals not requiring in-person visits, requests for copies of vehicle registration records or driver’s license records showing ownership or driving history respectively, and replacing lost or stolen driver’s licenses/identification cards.

These changes aim to make it easier for customers to avoid office visits by providing multiple service channels including mail, phone calls, kiosks, or through DMV business partners. This initiative could potentially reduce monthly office visits by 200,000 customers—totaling 2.4 million fewer trips annually.

"We don’t want our customers to have to wait for service," said DMV Director Steve Gordon. "The DMV is becoming a mobile-first operation... Just go online. It will save you time... We have also shortened the time it takes to receive vehicle stickers and driver’s licenses."

Since 2019 under Governor Newsom's administration and Director Gordon's leadership, the number of online services offered by the DMV has increased from 20 to 50. The state now hosts 287 kiosks statewide along with thousands of business partners facilitating these transactions. In 2023 alone, Californians completed over 27 million online transactions compared to 18.7 million in 2019.

The expansion includes innovations such as MyDMV accounts allowing easy renewal processes for driver's licenses along with status checks while offering paperless renewal notifications programs among other features designed for convenience.

Additionally, MyDMV provides a “Garage” feature enabling users to manage all vehicle and boat information in one place including renewing registrations and checking processing statuses conveniently.