WETHERSFIELD — The Department of Motor Vehicles announced Tuesday that it could not reach an agreement with the AAA franchise serving Fairfield and New Haven counties to continue licensing and ID card renewal services after December 31, 2016. The DMV and AAA have been in talks since October after AAA notified the DMV it would stop serving the general public and serve members only beginning in 2017.
“The Department’s responsibility is first and foremost to the general public. We need to maintain service levels while controlling costs. As such, we cannot subsidize a private organization’s provision of DMV services if that organization is not willing to find ways to serve the general public,” said Commissioner Michael Bzdyra.
“We hope this AAA franchise will re-consider our proposals, which we feel were fair and workable. In light of this development, we will begin exploring other avenues to maintain access to services for the people of Connecticut,” said the Commissioner.
In early October, Gov. Malloy threatened legal action against AAA Northeast.
The franchise currently provides DMV licensing and ID card renewal services to the entire general public, but has sought to offer them only to its paying members beginning in January. The franchise started in 2001 offering these services to the general public.
The remainder of Connecticut is served by AAA Club Alliance, based in West Hartford. Those branches will continue to provide services to all members of the general public throughout its eight offices around the state. Those are located in Avon, Cromwell, Enfield, Manchester, Old Saybrook, Plainville, Waterford and West Hartford.
