« So, honey, how was work today? | Main | Random Rants »

September 16, 2005

Maine's BMV Woes

Private sector motor vehicle services may be returning to Maine, thanks to some, er, problems with the current BMV.

AUGUSTA - Mainers are waiting too many hours at regional Bureau of Motor Vehicle offices to complete routine tasks such as vehicle registrations, prompting some lawmakers to consider looking at the private sector to deliver what the state apparently cannot.

Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap was grilled by members of the Legislature's Transportation Committee for nearly an hour Thursday about the lengthy delays at the state's 13 regional BMV offices. Dunlap told the panel that on average BMV customers are waiting more than an hour to register new vehicles or obtain new licenses, but he also acknowledged that in some urban areas such as Bangor, the wait can last for "several hours."

"We're in a pretty horrific situation ... ," Dunlap said. "It's news to nobody that we've had a pretty tough situation in the branch offices this summer with extended wait times and a greatly heightened number of complaints about those wait times and inability to obtain services. Earlier in the summer, that [wait] was ascribed largely to some failures within our computer system to remain stable."

Heck, even when the computers weren't malfunctioning, the wait times were bad. Plus, there are 6 or seven windows at the local branch of the BMV. Usually, only half of those are used. It's like going to a store (cough...samsclub...cough) with 18 registers built, but only three in use at any given time.

If you don't plan to use the resources you have to serve the public, don't bother building them. Seeing unused windows or registers only makes the wait all the more frustrating.

Posted by slublog at September 16, 2005 10:59 AM

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.slublog.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/1814

Comments

Holy cow, Maine has only 13 BMV places for the whole state? Every one of Indiana's 92 counties has at least one branch! I have one 5 minutes away, one 15, and one 30, and both of the first two have ususally no wait.

Posted by: MainiacJoe at September 16, 2005 11:36 AM

Okay, I spoke too soon. There are apparently 20-some-odd vans that do licenses and state IDs. But really, do you have to drive 50 miles or so just to get plates for your new car?

Posted by: MainiacJoe at September 16, 2005 11:39 AM

We have tag agencies all over Oklahoma. They're like storefront BMV's. Last time I tagged a car it took less than 10 minutes from the time I walked in the door until I was driving down the road.

Posted by: digitalbrownshirt at September 16, 2005 09:18 PM

Especially useful info here. BTW, I think I read a very similar article on one more blog these days, truly i'm pretty certain. I 'll check it out and let you know, maybe they copied your content, who knows.

Posted by: learn german language at October 6, 2010 07:56 PM

Incredibly helpful info here. BTW, I think I read a particularly similar article on an additional blog today, in fact i'm pretty certain. I 'll check it out and let you know, maybe they copied your content, who knows.

Posted by: singing exercises at October 7, 2010 05:48 AM

Great post, bookmarked, will be back later. Because this was a fantastic article, keep up the good work. (There we go, hows that? Two sentences now, can’t call that SPAM.)

Posted by: Sanjuana Jemmings at October 9, 2010 09:10 AM

Love all the opinions expressed here! How is everyone? Love how everyone expresses whatr they feel :)

Posted by: Link Building Services at October 25, 2010 07:04 PM

I really like this site and Slublog: Maine's BMV Woes . I read about you on another site I found on Google and thought they had great views as well.

Posted by: kreg r3 pocket hole jig at November 1, 2010 05:45 AM

I have been following your blog for three days now and I should say I am starting to like your post. Now how do I subscribe to your blog?

Posted by: kredyty bez bik at November 3, 2010 12:11 PM

This is the best blog I've ever seen in my life! I really appreciate you taking the time out of your busy day to share your this with everyone.

Posted by: Link Building Services at November 10, 2010 09:18 PM

I love the expression. Everyone needs to express there own opinion and feel free to hear others. Keep it up :)

Posted by: Link Building Services at November 12, 2010 05:43 AM

High quality info here! Keep up the great work. I love the feelings being expressed.

Posted by: Backlinks at December 3, 2010 05:37 PM

I really like the colors here on your blog. did you design this yourself or did you outsource it to a professional?

Posted by: Outdoor Decor at December 11, 2010 02:04 PM

I wanted to subscribe to rss feed coz i read a few articles here and seriously liked them, but i do not think your subscription works. or i'm doing something wrong...

Posted by: natural cures for herpes simplex 2 at January 8, 2011 08:11 AM

I wanted to subscribe to rss feed coz i read a few articles here and actually liked them, but i don't think your subscription works. or i'm performing something wrong...

Posted by: Aracely Hosea at January 25, 2011 06:25 AM

Straight to the point, i love it. Dont let anyone stop us bloggers.

Posted by: Fallon Mirabile at February 28, 2011 06:53 PM