The California Department of Motor Vehicles is asking the state for $8 million in 2016-17 and future years to expand its network of self-service terminals.
Currently, 50 terminals are located in DMV field offices. They're maintained by a private contractor which charges the DMV a $3.75 fee per transaction. The DMV says the self-service terminal program has been in place since 2010 and has cost the department an average of $3.3 million annually.
DMV says the additional $8 million per year would used to place 30 to 50 more terminals at businesses and other public locations beyond the department's field offices.
The DMV expects that its customers will process nearly 1.2 million vehicle registration renewals through the self-service terminals in 2015-16. DMV says the blue-and-gold touchscreen terminals are designed so that customers can get vehicle registration cards and tags instantly. They accept cash, credit card, debit card or check.
With the additional funding, DMV says it would support as many as nine additional languages besides English and Spanish at the terminals, and add more types of transactions.
The DMV's goal is to expand the self-service terminal program so that the machines process 2 million transactions each year.
The first terminal was installed at the South Sacramento field office in October 2010.
In 2014 the DMV issued a request for information (RFI) seeking input on the expansion of the self-service terminal program. Techwire reported that DMV wants future terminals to offer features such as more languages, privacy screens and internal sensors that trigger if the unit has been tampered with. It’s also looking for durable units that can withstand inclement weather if placed outside DMV offices, with a goal to join states such as Nevada in getting kiosks into local banks and grocery stores.
