Connecticut



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Monday, September 29, 2014

HOT TOPICS:

▪ DMV mobile app available for Connecticut drivers

▪ DMV’s "Classic Vehicle" plate gets a thumbs up

▪ California: DMV now tests with touch-screen devices

Stories on…

DMV mobile app available for Connecticut drivers

Hartford Courant

DMV Mobile App Available For Connecticut Drivers

By Kelly Glista

SEPTEMBER 26, 2014, 5:21 PM

A new mobile app will allow Connecticut residents to see the wait times are at Department of Motor Vehicle locations and answer practice questions from the state's driving test, the governor's office announced Friday..

The app, called DMV Mobile, is free for download from iTunes and Google Play. It's part of the DMV's effort to offer more services online, the governor's office said.

"The main goal we are trying to achieve with DMV's Modernization Program is to make the agency more accessible to residents by upgrading the antiquated technology and systems that have been in place at the agency for too long and giving them a more timely, convenient and efficient format to get the important information and services they need," Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said in a statement.

The app offers 63 actual test questions and answers from the learner's permit exam, as well as a parent quiz on teen drivers. Users will also be able to search DMV and AAA office locations and what services are offered.

"This is another in our steps for making DMV easy to use. Now people can find essential information — offices and locations and wait times — while on the go with their phones or tablets," DMV Commissioner Melody Currey said. "And for those needing to take the written test, we offer easy-access to real test questions so they are prepared."

WFSB

New app provides CT residents with DMV wait times

Posted: Sep 26, 2014 6:13 PM EDT

Updated: Sep 26, 2014 8:07 PM EDT

By Joseph Wenzel IV, News Editor

WETHERSFIELD, CT (WFSB) - If you're looking for some real-time information before you make your next trip to the Department of Motor Vehicles in Connecticut, there's an app for that.

DMV Mobile provides up-to-date wait times at all facilities, so if you need to go get a license you can check it out and gauge how long it might take.

The app also provides:

▪ Practice Knowledge Test Questions and Answers from The Real Test

▪ Parent Quiz on Teen Drivers

▪ DMV and AAA Office Locations

▪ DMV Services Offered

Teenagers can prepare for the written learner's permit exam by taking 63 actual test questions and answers on the app.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said the app provides a “more timely, convenient and efficient format to get the important information and services” to those who need and want it.

“This mobile app is the agency's first step to branch out from a simple website in order to reach a larger segment of its customers, especially those who are more likely to use a phone or tablet to access services and information online,” Malloy said.

Mark Raymond, the state's chief information officer, said the app “will increase the access for many of our newer DMV customers.”

“While we want all drivers to follow safe practices in their use of mobile technologies, we also recognize that mobile technologies continue to be a critical way to reach many of our drivers,” Raymond said.

The app is available in iTunes and Google Play stores.

Copyright 2014 WFSB (Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved.

blog.

Long DMV wait may be over

Posted on September 28, 2014 | By Bill Cummings

HARTFORD – The long wait at the state Department of Motor Vehicles may be coming to an end.

DMV is launching a new mobile app so residents can view wait times at different branches and even answer practice questions for the state’s drivers test.

Called DMV Mobile, the app is free to download from iTunes and Google Play.

“The main goal we are trying to achieve with DMV’s Modernization Program is to make the agency more accessible to residents by upgrading the antiquated technology and systems that have been in place at the agency for too long and giving them a more timely, convenient and efficient format to get the important information and services they need,” said Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.

“This is another in our steps for making DMV easy to use. Now people can find essential information — offices and locations and wait times — while on the go with their phones or tablets,” DMV Commissioner Melody Currey said. “And for those needing to take the written test, we offer easy-access to real test questions so they are prepared.”

Editorial…

DMV’s "Classic Vehicle" plate

gets a thumbs up

Hartford Courant

Thumbs Down On Foley's Cribbing Of Policy Notes

By Editorial

SEPTEMBER 25, 2014, 5:53 PM

Thumbs down to Tom Foley, the Republican candidate for governor, for using the words of others without attribution in his urban agenda, released Wednesday. A Foley campaign spokesman said that much of the agenda was drawn from the Connecticut Policy Institute, the think tank Mr. Foley founded — and so, the spokesman infers, borrowing those sentences is OK. But the agenda also cuts and pastes from work done by two out-of-state think tanks, the Pelican and Heartland institutes, with which Mr. Foley is not affiliated. Using their work without attribution is clearly not OK.

Thumbs up to West Hartford and Fairfield, both of which made the Top 50 in Money magazine's list of best places to live in America. This year's rankings featured cities with populations between 50,000 and 300,000. Also on the list, but further down, were Bristol, Danbury and Greenwich.

Thumbs up to the state Department of Motor Vehicles, which now has license plates that say "Classic Vehicle" instead of "Early American" for cars that are deemed antique. Many cars that qualify are neither early nor American, so the new designation is more apt.

Story on…

California: DMV now tests with touch-screen devices

Press-Enterprise

CALIFORNIA: DMV now tests with touch-screen devices

The response has been mostly positive, DMV official says

BY SANDRA STOKLEY / STAFF WRITER

Published: Sept. 28, 2014 Updated: 11:04 p.m.

The California Department of Motor Vehicles has taken a giant step into the 21st century with the debut of an automated touch-screen version of the driver’s license written exam.

The touch-screen test, which replaces the traditional pencil and paper exam, was rolled out to field offices starting July 16, said DMV spokeswoman Jessica Gonzalez.

It is now available in 120 field offices statewide including the east Riverside, Norco, Palm Desert and San Bernardino DMV offices in the Inland area.

It’s also available in Rancho Cucamonga and Victorville.

Gonzalez said the touch-screen system shortens test times and reduces fraud by presenting test questions and answers in random order.

Exam-takers are guided through the testing process and learn immediately if a question has been answered incorrectly.

The tests are automatically graded, as opposed to the paper test, which was graded by hand.

Work on the touch-screen system started between five and seven years ago but was delayed due to state budget challenges, Gonzalez said.

“We got the go-ahead about two years ago and started installing this summer,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez said the overall project cost is $8.7 million and so far almost $4.4 million has been spent.

She said it cost $2.6 million to register the warranties and for installation. She said federal grants paid for most of the system.

Gonzalez said managers report senior citizen test takers are approaching the new system with apprehension but are put at ease when informed the system is similar to the touch-screen technology used at casinos.

“It takes away the fear,” Gonzalez said.

“Customers are saying it’s easy to understand and use,” Gonzalez said.

That was the sentiment of Corona resident and first-time test taker George Nino, 16.

“It’s so convenient,” he said as he emerged from the Norco DMV office Tuesday. He passed his test.

“They even have hand sanitizer,” he said.

Riverside resident Alma Vargas, 19, also passed the test, but she said she would have preferred the traditional paper and pencil exam.

“The lights were too bright,” she said. “It hurts your eyes.”

Customers can take tests for basic, commercial and motorcycle licenses on the touch-screen terminals. When the test is completed, the screen will show either a pass or fail notification.

Gonzalez said applicants for first-time licenses get 36 questions and have to answer at least 30 correctly in order to pass. Seniors over 70 and people seeking license renewals answer 18 questions and need 15 correct answers to pass.

People 18 and older who fail to pass can retake the test three times in a day. Applicants under 18 must wait a week to retake the test, Gonzalez said.

The test is now offered in English and Spanish. Eventually, it will be offered in Arabic, Armenian, Chinese, French, Portugese and Vietnamese.

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Department of Motor Vehicles

60 State Street

Wethersfield, CT. 06161

Corporate and Public Relations

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