AMS-Time

PHOENIX – Starting this week, the timing of ramp-meter signals along southbound State Route 51 (Piestewa Freeway) are being adjusted to respond to the flow of morning rush-hour traffic, expanding an Arizona Department of Transportation program that began last fall along the freeway’s northbound on-ramps.

Change is in the air the MVD and customers are benefiting.

The Arizona MVD is opening early to move you through the MVD faster and more efficiently.

PHOENIX – Need to visit an MVD office? Leave that novel at home, you won’t need it to pass the time because the average time people spend at an Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division office has been cut in half in 2017 compared to last year.

So far in 2017, customers at the 15 MVD offices in metro Phoenix and Tucson are averaging fewer than 30 minutes from the moment they enter an office to the time they leave ‒ a trend that began in February and continues today.

Numbers are useful and may tell a story, but they can only do so much. Your feedback on MVD improvements tells us even more.

PHOENIX – Good news travels fast and it also travels far. The work being done by the Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division to lower office wait times, use employees more resourcefully and be more efficient overall is being noticed 9,000 miles away in Singapore.

A delegation from the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) and a representative from the Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI) visited MVD recently to learn about the continuous improvement transformation through the Arizona Management System championed by Governor Doug Ducey.

PHOENIX – What difference can half an hour make? A huge one when it results in an 80 percent reduction in employee overtime.

The Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division has seen major savings in those payroll costs since modifying the operating hours at its three Tucson-area offices. This change was brought about by MVD implementing Lean management techniques, part of the Arizona Management System, that empower employees to find ways to improve the customer experience.

The Tucson Equipment Services shop made small improvements that add up to a big time savings.

At the Tucson shop where the Arizona Department of Transportation repairs and maintains vehicles, technicians once rolled tires across the facility to reach a machine used for repairs.

Today, that machine is located next to the operation’s tire storage, along with the tools and supplies needed for the work. As a result, far fewer steps are required to repair tires.

ADOT Director John Halikowski steps into his employees' shoes to learn what goes into making and installing highway signs.

PHOENIX ‒ Leave it to the new person to mess up the first time he tries applying reflective vinyl to make a road sign.

It seems so simple as he approaches the sign-making machine: Just slide a piece of polished aluminum under a roll of vinyl, press a pedal to start applying and …

Jam.

“What did I do?” he says as his understanding supervisor swoops in to free the metal, cut through the bunched-up vinyl and clear the machine for another try.

Rookie mistake. The new person tapped the pedal too early, and this particular sign is history.

SHOW LOW – An initiative that has reduced wait times at Motor Vehicle Division offices is one of the big results of the Arizona Department of Transportation’s commitment to continuous improvement. But even finding a better way to fill a water tank used for treating roadside weeds is helping ADOT provide better service for Arizonans.

PHOENIX – Taking the road test for a driver license has long involved showing up at an Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division office early in hopes of getting a time slot to take the test that day. And often plenty of waiting.

That’s changing as of this week. Customers are now able to schedule road tests up to 30 days in advance through ServiceArizona.com for 11 office locations in the Phoenix metro area and northern Arizona. MVD will be bringing remaining offices online over the next two weeks.

ADOT is working to examine our current processes and identify ways to do better for the customers we serve.

Continuous improvement is an exciting way of looking at how we do business at ADOT. We look forward to sharing this story with you.

ADOT’s Motor Vehicle Division is seeking ways to improve customer service and reduce wait times.

PHOENIX – The West Phoenix Motor Vehicle Division office is often a noisy scene when a customer lines up to check in and then takes a seat to wait for an automated system to call his or her number.

On this day, however, it’s unusually quiet and no numbers are being called. After checking in, customers line up along a path through the lobby marked by yellow tape. While one MVD employee walks down the line to make sure customers have what they need to complete their transactions, another directs people to the next available customer service window.