WETHERSFIELD — The Department of Motor Vehicles announced Wednesday the temporary closing of the Milford, Derby service centers beginning next week.
In a release sent out Wednesday, DMV said the closing is in part of their developing strategy which aims to strengthen customer service and help alleviate long wait times in those two offices which are open only two days a week.
“The DMV lines in Milford City Hall have become just too long, and any closure would ripple into Derby where lines are also growing. Returning four staff workers to full-service DMV offices, where there’s also high demand Tuesday through Saturday, will help improve service overall where we serve many more people,” said DMV Commissioner Michael Bzdyra. Each small office is staffed by two DMV personnel.
The staffing for the service centers come from main branch offices. DMV said with lines and wait times growing in the small offices, they plan to reassess how to use them.
“For instance, a recent study showed that over 90 percent of visitors to these offices will wait in line for registration transactions when they could go online to do the transaction from the convenience of their home, smartphone or tablet,” said DMV.
One way to help alleviate the long lines, licensing customers will soon have an online option.
“DMV is working to enhance its licensing to include “skip-a-trip,” which would mean customers could do one six-year license renewal online before needing to visit an office. We expect this enhanced service to be available next year,” said DMV.
DMV said these two centers provide various license and registration services. Both offices will close on July 24. Milford is open Tuesday and Thursday, and Derby is open Wednesdays and Fridays. Customers using the centers can go to other nearby full-service offices in Hamden, Bridgeport and Waterbury.
“Closing any DMV service, even on a temporary basis, is a difficult choice, but we also cannot continue to burden these centers’ customers with long wait times,” the Commissioner said.
A full list of DMV offices can be found here.