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Vermont DMV begins $50 million modernization to centralize driver and vehicle records
Summary
New DMV commissioner Andrew Collier told the House Transportation Committee that a $50 million IT modernization will consolidate decades-old systems into a single online platform; the first phase rolled out last November and the driver-services portion is scheduled before Veterans Day.
Andrew Collier, the new commissioner of the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles, told the House Transportation Committee on Jan. 15 that the agency is carrying out a $50,000,000 information-technology modernization to consolidate data that has sat in multiple silos for decades. "It's taking a system that was developed, 60 plus years ago, and getting all the information which was held in a whole bunch of different silos into one place," Collier said.
The project is intended to create a "one-stop shop" for customers and staff by centralizing registrations, licenses and appointment management. Collier said the first part of the system rolled out last November on schedule and "on time, schedule, and cost were right on point." The final phase for driver services — the part that will handle licenses, IDs and related functions — is slated to deploy "just prior to Veterans Day this year," Collier said.
The modernization lets Vermonters manage appointments online and complete many registration and licensing transactions without visiting an office, officials said. Collier described the DMV as "a retail type of organization" in which improving employee morale and customer experience go hand in hand. The agency said customers who schedule appointments generally experience shorter waits and that a growing share of registration transactions are completed online.
The modernization also includes an e-permitting portal developed with the Agency of Transportation’s engineering staff to automate overweight/oversize permit routing. Collier said the e-permitting tool factors roadway and bridge limits and aims to reduce manual route checks and approval time for businesses that move heavy loads.
Committee members pressed Collier on how easily the new system can be changed if the Legislature sought new requirements, for example additional medical screenings for older drivers. Collier and operations director Nancy Prescott said the vendor system is used by other states and can be modified but that changes would require a review process and likely programming resources.
Collier said the modernization is expected to increase online transactions and reduce back-room handoffs that previously lengthened processing times. He and committee members agreed to revisit implementation details and potential workload impacts as additional phases are deployed.
