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.

Examining their processes and how to improve them, Show Low-based maintenance workers noted that it took 45 minutes to refill the 300-gallon water tank on their truck when they were spraying for weeds. It also involved driving back to the maintenance yard for refills because the three-quarter-inch connector was designed for a garden hose.

Creating a new 2-inch connector out of PVC pipe now allows them to fill the tank in about 10 minutes. Because of the new connector, they also can also refill the tank from a water truck or fire hydrant without having to drive back the maintenance yard.

The result: less time needed to treat weeds along highways and more time available to tend to other maintenance needs in the Show Low area.

All four herbicide trucks used by maintenance crews in ADOT’s Northeastern District now have the refilling system.

It’s one more way continuous improvement is helping ADOT increase its value to Arizona by making more efficient use of time, resources and taxpayer dollars.

For more information, visit azdot.gov.

PHOENIX – Want to avoid lines at MVD offices? Chances are good that you can take care of business online instead.

According to data collected by the Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division, 51 percent of the transactions that happen in MVD offices every business day could be done online instead. These range from very common transactions such as renewing a vehicle registration or replacing a driver license/identification card to smaller but still important things such as getting a decal for an off-road vehicle or a customer refund.

“Imagine if the MVD offices had 51 percent fewer transactions to handle,” Motor Vehicle Division Director Eric Jorgensen said. “That would mean fewer people who need to make a trip to get services that are just a click away on a computer or smartphone, and it would reduce wait times for those who need to do business in the offices.”

Including those listed above, there are many MVD services that can be easily done through ServiceArizona.com, such as address and email changes, ordering a personalized or specialty license plate, voter registration, obtaining a copy of your motor vehicle record, renewing a disability placard, insurance verification, sold notices and many more. For a complete list, please go to ServiceArizona.com.

“People are a lot more comfortable using the web for all kinds of transactions that just weren’t done years ago,” Jorgensen added. “MVD is ahead of the curve online, and we welcome more Arizonans to check out ServiceArizona.com to see if they can get their needs handled there because it’s increasingly likely they can.”

Glendale City Court is the newest addition to the growing roster of kiosks available to Arizonans doing business with the Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division.

Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers was on hand Thursday to help open the latest location in MVD’s ongoing effort to improve customer experience by making services available in more public spaces like city courts.

Glendale joins El Mirage, Paradise Valley, Phoenix, Scottsdale, Surprise and Tucson as court kiosk locations in addition to those located in MVD offices statewide.

“Our No. 1 goal is to get people out of the line and safely on the road, and putting kiosks in city courts helps us reach that objective,” said MVD Director Eric Jorgensen. “All of us at the Motor Vehicle Division are working hard to make our services as widely available as possible and ensuring that customers have more options, whether online, at a kiosk or in person.”

“We are excited about the partnership between Glendale City Court and ADOT because not only will it aid customers of the court, but it will also provide additional services to all Glendale residents, saving time and improving efficiencies,” said Presiding City Court Judge Elizabeth Finn.

Customers can use kiosks to quickly and conveniently conduct many MVD transactions, including renewing a vehicle registration, obtaining a duplicate driver license/identification card, updating an address, making changes to voter registration, obtaining a copy of a motor vehicle record and getting a disability placard.

“We have great local government partners that share our desire to constantly improve our customers’ experience, and we’re grateful to Mayor Weiers, Judge Finn and the city of Glendale for their support,” Jorgensen added.

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.

The change, part of MVD’s efforts to continuously improve its customer focus, adds to online appointments launched in April for those converting a driver license or ID card to a Voluntary Travel ID.

“This new feature will provide a lot of value to our customers by allowing them to fit the test into their schedule instead of spending half a day at an office waiting to take it,” ADOT Motor Vehicle Division Director Eric Jorgensen said. “This is another step forward in achieving MVD’s vision of getting customers out of line and safely on the road.”

To schedule an appointment, visit azdot.gov/roadtestinfo, which has step-by-step instructions for arranging road tests. Customers can fill out and submit a driver license application online, get a list of documents needed to obtain a standard driver license or Voluntary Travel ID and schedule their road tests on ServiceArizona.com.

Once at the MVD office, those with appointments can check in at a kiosk rather than waiting in line at the information desk.

Applicants must meet all requirements before taking the road test, including passing the written test. Appointments are only for road tests, not the written portion of the exam.

As part of ADOT’s agency-wide commitment to continuous improvement, MVD is experimenting with other ways to reduce wait times, an effort that has led to process improvements that include printing temporary credentials at customer service windows instead of sending customers to a separate line. Customers who need to retake the driving test now go directly to the testing area instead of first waiting in line to re-verify their applications with a representative.

An experiment at MVD’s West Phoenix location has found that having customers line up rather than relying on the number-calling system dramatically reduces wait times, and that innovation is rolling out to other large MVD offices. MVD has also seen positive results in experimenting this summer with expanded office hours in the Tucson area.

“All of the process improvements, like road test appointments, help make MVD more efficient and customer-oriented,” Jorgensen said. “All aspects of MVD are on the table as we continue to experiment and innovate to improve the overall customer experience.”

For more information, please visit azdot.gov/mvd.

PHOENIX – The Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division continues to expand its reach with two more courthouses in Glendale and Pima County receiving ServiceArizona kiosks. These kiosks make it easier for Arizonans to conduct business without visiting an MVD office.

The kiosks, which have the same functionality as the ServiceArizona.com website, offer more than 20 motor vehicle services such as accessing a driving record and renewing vehicle registrations. Most kiosks, including these latest ones, can print vehicle registrations and plate tabs for registration renewals.

Glendale and Pima County are the sixth and seventh courthouses to receive ServiceArizona kiosks in the past 15 months, following Surprise, Scottsdale, El Mirage, Paradise Valley and Phoenix. There also are kiosks in 23 MVD offices around the state, with plans to roll out more over time.

“Installing ServiceArizona kiosks at community centers like courthouses makes a lot of sense,” said Motor Vehicle Division Director Eric Jorgensen. “Our goal is for people to easily access the motor vehicle services they need wherever they are.”

Other motor vehicle services available through ServiceArizona.com and kiosks include ordering duplicate a driver license or ID card and ordering specialty license plates.

For more information, visit azdot.gov/mvd and ServiceArizona.com.

PHOENIX – When it comes to renewing a commercial driver license, having the right documents can save applicants time and trouble.

Commercial driver licenses, which are valid for five years, must be renewed at one of 13 Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division commercial driver license offices around the state. When a commercial driver comes in without the proper documentation, he or she will have to come back and risk the license expiring before it can be renewed.

To renew an Arizona commercial driver license, drivers must bring the following documents:

• Current Arizona commercial driver license
• A document establishing citizenship or legal presence such as a certified birth certificate, unexpired U.S. passport or permanent resident card
• Social Security card
• Medical examiner certificate
• Proof of residency in Arizona such as a bank statement, utility bill or Arizona voter registration card

A full list of acceptable documents can be found on the ADOT website, azdot.gov.

It’s also important for commercial drivers to bring documents showing proof of name change if their current name is different from the name on their primary document such as a birth certificate. Hazardous materials knowledge tests are required at time of renewal if the driver has a Hazardous Materials Endorsement and wishes to keep that endorsement.

For more information, please visit azdot.gov/mvd.

TUCSON – At most urban Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division offices, customers begin lining up around 7:30 a.m. in anticipation of an 8 o’clock opening, aiming to avoid a wait. Those who don’t often try to squeeze in MVD visits during lunch breaks, creating a rush that can lead to longer waits throughout the afternoon.

As part of its efforts to improve the customer experience and reduce wait times throughout the state, MVD has started opening its three offices serving the Tucson area at 7:30 a.m. to give more people the opportunity to visit before work and to even out the flow of customers throughout the day.

“We want to provide more opportunities for customers to get their business done quickly with MVD,” ADOT Motor Vehicle Division Director Eric Jorgensen said. “We are committed to improving wait times and making the overall customer experience better.”

MVD will be monitoring the effectiveness of this experiment throughout the summer.

Reducing wait times at MVD offices is a key part of ADOT’s agency-wide commitment to continuous improvement. Other MVD experiments toward this goal include moving customers through the west Phoenix location without calling out numbers.

MVD’s efforts have already yielded process improvements that include printing temporary credentials at customer service windows instead of sending customers to a separate line. Also, customers who need to retake the driving test now go directly to the testing area instead of first waiting in line to re-verify their applications with a representative.

To accommodate opening earlier, employees at the Tucson MVD offices are working alternative schedules. The evaluation includes testing different schedules in order to have offices open longer.

With the new Tucson hours in place for only a couple of weeks, MVD has already noted improvement in wait times at the Tucson Regional office on South Broadmont Drive. In the course of planning, doing and checking results to continuously improve, MVD is prepared to make further adjustments to hours.

“Our approach of experimenting and assessing MVD’s processes has yielded and will continue to yield improvements that benefit customers around Arizona,” Jorgensen said.

For more information, visit azdot.gov/mvd.

PHOENIX – When the Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division took over the Department of Weights and Measures’ Vehicle for Hire program, it immediately began looking for ways to streamline the application process as part of an agency-wide commitment to continuous improvement.

The result: MVD reduced what had been a six-hour application process for owners of taxi, livery vehicle and limousine companies to just 10 minutes.

The application process used to be entirely manual for both applicants and staff, which was time-consuming and involved going back and forth between state employees and business owners. Now it’s offered online at ServiceArizona.com, with business owners filling in the information themselves.

Business owners used to wait for vehicle insurance information to show up in MVD’s database before proceeding with their applications. Now MVD employees can enter the information themselves on behalf of insurance companies.

The 8,500 taxis, limos and other vehicles listed in the database once had to be inspected annually, creating an aggravating process for both inspectors and business owners. Now vehicles are inspected randomly as well as when complaints are received.

“We took an outdated, inefficient application process and applied modern technology and methods to it,” said Tom Opalka, MVD commercial driver license, medical review and vehicle for hire program manager, who oversaw this process improvement. “We’re now able to save our customers time ‒ and money ‒ by automating much of the process and streamlining the rest.”

Due to two pending laws coming out of this year’s legislative session, more improvements are coming to the Vehicle for Hire program later this month.  Instead of requiring a company to apply for an annual permit for each taxi, livery vehicle and limousine, MVD will issue one permit to the company for all of its vehicles to operate for three years at a time – similar to how transportation network companies like Uber and Lyft are permitted.

Streamlining the Vehicle for Hire program is just one example of how the Motor Vehicle Division is, like ADOT as a whole, continuously improving to benefit Arizonans.

For information on the Motor Vehicle Division, visit azdot.gov/mvd.