If you’re not almost 16 years old, nobody else in your family is almost 16 years old and you don’t even have any friends (or enemies, for that matter) who are almost 16 years old, then why should you care about teens taking the learner’s permit test online?

It’s a fair – if lengthy – question. But the answer may surprise you.

If you ever have to visit an Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division office, the fact that we offer the online Permit Test @ Home for potential teen drivers actually does affect you.

You may ask how, and you have our permission to ask because the answer is very simple.

It’s time.

That’s because for every teenager who doesn’t have to come to an MVD office to take the permit test, that’s one fewer customer in line. Actually, it’s at least two, because mom, dad or another adult has to accompany the teen. What’s even better is that Mom, Dad or whoever doesn’t have to take the afternoon off for this task, and their absence from our locations means we have more time to serve you.

For those who need it, the online Permit Test @ Home is easy to set up. An adult activates their secure, personal account at AZ MVD Now, which is available at AZMVDNow.gov or through ServiceArizona.com.

Once there, the teen takes the test. It’s proctored by the adult, who, by the way, is usually the person sitting in the passenger seat when the new driver is learning, and who usually pays for the insurance. That’s a great incentive to make sure the test is taken fairly.

Once the test is passed, the teen and an adult do need to make one MVD office visit to get the actual permit.

This is a popular program. Each month about 7,000 teens take the Permit Test @ Home. That means about 14,000 people a month avoid one office visit. Since we serve just over 7,000 people every day, we’ve returned two business days to our system with this one innovation.

In a way, MVD has expanded the space-time continuum with the Permit Test @ Home. It’s life changing!

OK, maybe we’re a bit too excited about it. But you have to admit that it’s pretty cool, even if you’re not almost 16.

Did you know that nearly four million Arizonans have signed up to be organ or tissue donors through Donor Network of Arizona?

That’s an incredible number, and if you’re on of those people, thank you. Organ and tissue donations change, and in many cases, save lives. You can see that in this 2015 video about one such organ donor, Michael Choppi.

The Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division has been a partner with the Donor Network of Arizona for many years, and we couldn’t be more proud of what that partnership has accomplished. In fact, last month was ADOT MVD Saves Lives Month, and this is probably our most important partnership.

One of the newer changes we’ve made to encourage people to sign up as a donor when renewing their vehicle registration. Arizona has a unique time frame for renewing a license or ID. Your credential is good until you reach the age of 65, so we see a lot fewer people for this service than other states. But your registration is a different story. You usually have a choice between an annual renewal, two years or even five years. Obviously, that increases the opportunities to interest people in donation. So in 2017, MVD added a donor registration question to the renewal process and registrations increased by about 20 percent.

We talk a lot about some of the innovative ways MVD has improved customer service. Those are great changes, but they pale in comparison to helping Arizonans change and save lives. We hope you’ll thoughtfully consider becoming an organ and tissue donor.

We’ve been sitting around the campfire here at the ol’ ADOT ranch, and while we sometimes argue about sports, politics and whether unicorns are real, we did agree on one thing: This Internet business seems to have a future.

We hope you aren’t surprised …

With that in mind, we did discover a sort of unicorn in this digital age, except this one’s real: Did you know that a lot of vehicle titles can be transferred online?

It’s true. We call it eTitle. It’s simple to use and it’s free.

All you need to do is go to azmvdnow.gov, set up your own personal AZ MVD Now account and go from there. You can buy or sell a vehicle with another private party and transfer the title online. No MVD office visit is needed.

Because AZ MVD Now is a personal account with multi-factor authorization, your title is more secure than the old paper method. Eventually, all titles will be done this way, much like you pay bills or do shopping online.

Right now eTitle is limited to one-owner to one-owner sales of Arizona-registered vehicles, but it’s a start. Actually, it’s a very good start.

So good, in fact, ADOT’s Motor Vehicle Division just won the “Trailblazer Award” from the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA).

Here’s what the AAMVA award says: “eTitle is a groundbreaking program established by the Arizona Department of Transportation MVD to move the title transfer process from paper to electronic. Consumers are able to electronically complete the title transfer process without going to an MVD office. Besides the consumer component, the program has elements that provide significant time and cost savings for automobile dealers and towing companies. The electronic title transfer process also helps eliminate fraud that can be conducted with paper titles. Arizona Motor Vehicle Division’s innovative eTitle program provides for much more efficient operations that not only saves the agency time and money, but also allows for a smoother customer service experience.”

MVD is not only getting Arizona out of line and safely on the road, it’s blazing trails to do it.

You’ve probably heard of the Motor Vehicle Division. It’s the group of fun-lovin’ people who take your driver license photo, process a complex title transaction and a whole bunch of other really important things you need to get out of line and safely on the road.

Well now, the Motor Vehicle Division is really taking the “motor vehicle” part literally and getting itself on the road.

You might say how? And we’ll pause to allow you time to say that.

 

Thanks.

Now that we’ve been asked, we’re happy to tell you about the Mobile MVD office. Yep, MVD is hitting the road.

Earlier this year, MVD took possession of an RV that another ADOT division no longer needed and fitted it out with five service counters and a photo station so that most MVD services except for written and road tests could be offered. Oh, and it got a cool new paint job too.

In fact, there are several places around Arizona that have already seen this new office in their communities. That’s because with an ongoing training program that requires us to shut down an office for a week at a time, there are some areas that have been served by this mobile office to fill the gaps.

The office got a real test when a pipe burst at the Prescott MVD recently and had to shut down unexpectedly. So with very little prep time, the Mobile RV rushed to the pines and made sure services were available.

It’s a pretty cool thing. The technology allows customers to sit at a work station and have a live interactive video session with a service representative located either in Phoenix or Tucson. Mobile office personnel can assist customers and keep things running smoothly.

Of course, the office can’t replace a large MVD location, so things might take a little longer and we suggest that people might use it for urgent services.

But no matter what your MVD needs are, this office expands the ways we can do business and reach Arizonans more conveniently by putting the motor(home) in MVD.

By David Woodfill / ADOT Communications

My dad is notoriously hard to shop for when it comes to birthdays and Christmas. He's retired, comfortable and feels like he has everything he needs in life. So every Christmas my siblings and I wrack our brains over what to do for him.

Once I got him a pocket flashlight that, even at just 2 inches long, shone a blinding 275 lumens. A few days later, he couldn't remember which drawer he put it in. Another year, I ordered decadent gourmet food only to find out that my mother had just put him on a strict diet and exercise regimen.

This year, I've decided to order him a specialty license plate from ADOT's Motor Vehicle Division. Few may realize it, but ServiceArizona.com offers dozens of plates supporting worthy causes, making it all but impossible to not find something that fits someone's personality. Of the $25 annual cost, $17 goes toward a designated cause that aligns with the recipient's values and passions.

You can buy someone else a specialty plate as long as you have the last two digits of the vehicle identification number, the number of the plate being replaced and the recipient's name and address.

So if you're struggling to find the right gift for someone who already has everything, forgo that singing fish and join me in considering a specialty plate.

Just don't tell my dad.

By Laurie Merrill / ADOT Communications

As if the hairdos and outfits weren’t enough to date this era, driver license tests have also come a long way since this Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division photo was snapped decades ago. If, like me, you learned to drive in the days before computers, this photo of people sitting at classroom-style desks, complete with pencil holders, will look familiar.

Today, would-be licensees who take the 30-question, multiple-choice test do so at a computer using a touch screen. Audio assist is available.

In an even larger technological leap, teenagers hoping to get their learners permits are flocking to the Permit Test @ Home, a new online option that ADOT introduced earlier this year.

Some things don’t change. The way we take the tests reflects the electronic revolution, but the content still stems directly from the Arizona Driver License Manual. Serious studying is still required.

By John Halikowski / ADOT Director

Who would have imagined offering specialty license plates by the Arizona Department of Transportation’s Motor Vehicle Division would bring more than $10 million in sales? That effort means causes like cancer research, veterans’ services, families of first responders, historic preservation, college scholarships, sports teams’ foundations – to name just a few – have another line of financial support coming their way. I would say that is “making transportation personal, one specialty plate at a time.”

The specialty plate program was established by state law in 1989 and plates are authorized by the Arizona legislature. The plates cost $25. Of that amount, $17 is committed to the benefiting organization that is sponsoring the plate. Specialty plates are available online and at MVD or Authorized Third Party offices. More information can be found at ServiceArizona.com or azdot.gov/mvd.

I am grateful for the generous support the people of Arizona have shown toward our specialty plate program. Transportation does touch lives in so many ways. That’s why I believe transportation is personal.

This post originally appeared on ADOT Director John Halikowski's
LinkedIn page. He has led the agency since 2009.