Disorganization, long wait times, a lack of staff and outdated systems are just a few words commonly used to describe North Carolina’s most public-facing agency: the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV). For students, this perception is rampant as learner’s permits and provisional licenses are acquired and maintained.
Maria Sbityakov (‘26) shares this view and feels from her own experiences, “it takes 6 months to get an appointment at literally any DMV in North Carolina.” To get her learner’s permit, Sbitkakov did what many decide to do, and traveled beyond her hometown. She recounts, “We [her family] made it a trip to take a permit test that took 10 minutes.” The appointment was in Wilmington, NC, a two hour drive from Sbitkakov’s house.
Sbitkakov is not alone in going long distances for DMV appointments. Ananya Datta (‘26) drove almost 2 hours to Greenville, N.C. to take their permit test. Statewide, Datta feels that the DMV is getting more and more disorganized, recounting a data shutdown on the DMV’s interface. They also feel there must be “some legislat[ion] or policy to revamp the entire DMV in North Carolina.”
Lucky for Datta, that policy may be found. In an audit conducted by the North Carolina Office of the State Auditor (OSA), led by elected Auditor Dave Boliek, both problems and solutions are illuminated for one of North Carolina’s most dreaded agencies.
Many problems revolve around the DMV as a part of the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT). The report claims that NCDOT does not always hear the needs of the DMV. For example, NCDOT typically does not fully advance DMV the budget requests, including funding for new personnel. Additionally, the DMV did not get a chance to give sufficient input on many initiatives designed to improve it, such as contracts with vendors to enhance customer services. Without the input from the DMV, NCDOT seems unable to adequately address the problems that DMV locations face across the state.
However, one of the most glaring problems according to the OSA’s report is the DMV’s budget. Being in the NCDOT, the DMV is budgeted according to NCDOT’s leadership, with specifications from the legislature. On average, the DMV raises 30% of revenue for NCDOT, yet the DMV only accounts for 3% of their budget.
These and other problems that contribute to the slowness of the DMV may have solutions in OSA’s report. The one gaining the most traction is creating the DMV as an autonomous agency independent of NCDOT. If this course is adopted, per legislative approval, it would grant the DMV oversight of its own budget, operations, and planning. This would alleviate the many problems arising from the DMV being a part of NCDOT.
If the DMV does not separate from NCDOT, OSA still feels it is necessary for the DMV to make its own decisions in strategic planning. In the past, strategic plans for the state’s transportation needs, developed by NCDOT, gave the DMV little attention.
OSA also recommends the development of a data-driven staffing plan to strategically fill vacancies of driver’s license examiners throughout the state. The shortage of driver’s license examiners is a major problem in North Carolina, with vacancies numbering over 160.
OSA feels it is necessary for data to be incorporated in other areas as well. To better inform decisions, the report recommends a public performance dashboard be developed that tracks appointment availability, customer satisfaction, staffing availability, and more.
Fundamentally, any improvement is for the betterment of customer experiences. OSA feels steps must be taken for the advancement of service delivery to customers, including encouraging online transactions, bettering the appointment scheduling process, and creating a “fast-pass” where customers pay more to bypass long lines. However, such initiatives must roll out well.
For decades, many have complained about the DMV for its slowness, inefficiency, and its organization. However, a recent report from OSA provides some promising solutions: establish the DMV as a separate entity or give it more operational flexibility, use data to measure performance and make staffing decisions, and establish targeted customer experience initiatives. With the help of OSA and other policymakers, the decades-long problem could finally be resolved.
