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.

This improvement is due in large part to the successful implementation of the Arizona Management System (AMS). Championed by Gov. Doug Ducey, AMS empowers employees at every level of the MVD to come up with innovative ways to serve customers more efficiently.

“The Motor Vehicle Division has embraced the AMS philosophy of finding change for the better, and we’re seeing impressive results,” said ADOT Director John Halikowski. “Instead of making customers sit and wait for a number to be called, we have employees answering questions and providing assistance. We’ve expanded office hours in all our urban offices. We offer more services online and at MVD kiosks. The end result is a much shorter amount of time most people need to spend when they visit an MVD office, and more innovations are on the way.”

“I’m very proud of the work being done by MVD employees to make our offices run more efficiently in keeping with our vision to get people out of line and safely on the road,” said MVD Director Eric Jorgensen. “That vision is more than just an idea. It’s the reality being played out every business day at MVD where our customers are getting more of their valuable time back to do the things they want to do.”

A year ago, a visit to an MVD office in the Phoenix or Tucson metro areas would typically take almost one hour. Today urban offices are consistently showing an average experience time of fewer than 30 minutes. In some locations, the average time from when a customer enters the office to the time he or she leaves is closer to 20 minutes.

This trend is especially notable because MVD is serving more customers in 2017 compared to last year, but doing so far more efficiently. In the month of March, for example, MVD experienced an exceptionally high amount of customer traffic with an average of nearly 9,400 daily transactions, while the offices still managed to keep the urban experience time below 30 minutes.

Another stunning improvement is the wait time in the lobby, or the time it takes from when a customer is given a service number and called to a counter to complete a transaction. In July 2016, 70 percent of urban MVD customers waited more than 15 minutes; as of May this year, that figure was below 25 percent.

For more information about the Motor Vehicle Division, please visit azdot.gov/mvd.

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.

The delegation toured the MVD office located on 51st Avenue in Phoenix and got a firsthand look at how changes have helped contribute to an overall average reduction of 20 minutes in urban office wait times statewide. Other changes have contributed to an 80 percent reduction in overtime costs at some MVD locations, added more capacity by making road test appointments online and increased usage of online service options like kiosks and ServiceArizona.com. 

MVD Director Eric Jorgensen said, “The Singapore government is very interested in studying efficiency, and what impressed them most was that Margarita, a customer service representative in the West Phoenix office, was able to walk them through the huddle board that measures our goals and describes our initiatives and explain not only how our processes work, but why.  They were also very impressed with the level of engagement of all the leads, supervisors and office manager.”  

He added, “I truly believe that this kind of engagement, with 854 MVD employees actively looking for how to make things just a little better, is the key to getting our customers out of the line and safely on the road.”

The Singapore government has put a large focus on increasing productivity and innovation in their country, and SIT is looking at different ways to bring lean transformation to their university and ultimately to the workforce through education and skills development.

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.

In June 2016, Tucson MVD offices changed their opening time from 8 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. to better serve customers who arrive early and line up prior to the doors opening.

The earlier office opening time helps customers who want to get their business done early in the day and also allows management more flexibility when scheduling employees. Because of that flexibility, the number of employees available to serve customers is more consistent throughout the day and transactions are conducted more efficiently. That in turn results in fewer MVD staff working after closing time to finish various tasks, vastly reducing overtime costs. In the six months since making the change, overtime hours have dropped 80 percent when compared to the same time period a year ago.

“This is a great win for our customers, our employees and the taxpayers of Arizona,” said MVD Director Eric Jorgensen. “Because of the Lean management initiative championed by Governor Ducey, MVD is empowering its employees statewide to come up with ideas that provide a financial benefit as well as improved customer service.”

He added, “Tucson MVD employees now don’t stay late at work nearly as often, which means more time for themselves and their families. And our customers spend much less time at an office with overall wait times dropping by a statewide average of about 20 minutes. This is another way we’re getting people out of line and safely on the road.”

For more information on Tucson office locations visit: azdot.gov/mvd.

PHOENIX ‒ It may not be surprising to hear that coordinating the timing of city traffic signals and those at two busy Interstate 17 interchanges will save drivers time.

But the Arizona Department of Transportation and its partners, the city of Phoenix and Maricopa Association of Governments, have taken it a step further by adding up the time saved and its dollar value for a project involving Camelback and Indian School roads.

The answer: Motorists are expected to save 350,000 hours of travel time, worth $6.2 million, per year.

“Continuous improvement is ADOT’s culture and is reflected in both large and small things that the ADOT team does every day. Sometimes a seemingly small change that makes better use of resources can mean big improvements,” ADOT Director John Halikowski said. “Drivers are already seeing a time savings from this coordination. Saving time means saving money and more time with family, friends and things you enjoy doing.”

“The ADOT team’s challenge is to keep improving time savings and promote efficiency for Arizona’s taxpayers,” Halikowski added.

“When ADOT, MAG and the city of Phoenix work together strategically, the public is the beneficiary,” Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton said. “Properly timing the traffic signals at these busy intersections will ease congestion, which gets commuters home sooner, saves fuel and keeps our air cleaner.”

A project funded by Maricopa Association of Governments’ Traffic Signal Optimization Program studied traffic signal timing at the Camelback and Indian School interchanges and nearby city streets and recommended a number of improvements. The project developed a common cycle length for all traffic signals near those interchanges and the best timing for the morning and evening commutes.

ADOT and Phoenix made these recommended changes, leading to significant improvements in travel times at these locations. An independent study by ADOT staff identified the benefits in time saved.  

Besides saving motorists time, these adjustments are expected to improve safety by reducing the number of stops drivers must make and time spent waiting at traffic lights. Shorter travel times and fewer stops also reduce fuel consumption and air pollution. 

ADOT and Phoenix continue to evaluate other I-17 corridor interchanges to see if changes in signal coordination can improve traffic flow elsewhere.