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DMV Tech Modernization Continues Despite Coronavirus Crisis

President Trump indicated he'll relax the Oct. 1 deadline for California residents to obtain a federally mandated Real ID, but a California Department of Motor Vehicles official said the coronavirus pandemic shouldn't impact the agency's ongoing tech initiatives.

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California residents and the Department of Motor Vehicles may have caught a break from the federal government, which indicated it will relax the Real ID deadline — now just more than six months off — but the agency said its overall posture remains tech-forward even during the global novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

President Donald Trump announced Monday that he would push back the Oct. 1 Real ID deadline due to the coronavirus, potentially alleviating some of the pressure to register millions who will need the federally securitized ID to fly domestically and gain access to some federal facilities.

DMV Director Steve Gordon said in a statement that the agency is “encouraged” by Trump’s remarks indicating the extension, which will “relieve the urgency for people to visit local DMV offices and bolster the state’s efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19.”

“We look forward to learning more about the president’s direction and sharing that information with the public,” Gordon said. Among the takeaways:

• Relaxing the deadline isn’t expected to impede DMV’s ongoing tech and innovation projects, Anita Gore, DMV’s deputy director of communications, told Techwire via email. Modernization efforts, Gore said, continue “as the DMV leverages technology to increase efficiency and automate more processes to increase the number of transactions that can be accomplished without visiting a DMV office.”

“These improvements will have long-term customer service benefits, as well as the immediate benefit during the COVID-19 pandemic of creating more virtual channels to take care of DMV tasks without needing to visit an office,” Gore said. The later deadline could help DMV flatten the curve on the millions of California residents who still need a Real ID — but Gore said the agency does not “currently have enough information about the extension to make that determination.” DMV issued more than 27.3 million driver’s licenses last year.

• Among its recent technological improvements, she pointed out that DMV announced March 9 that residents can now complete Real ID applications online and upload supporting documentation from home. The department is also piloting a new Virtual DMV Field Office to enable the online or telephone completion of transactions that previously required an office visit.

• DMV lets in-office customers track their place in line via text — although to protect the health and safety of visitors and employees, the agency has instituted appointment-only service, canceled driving tests, and suspended extended morning hours and Saturday service at offices. In an effort to further reduce the number of people in its offices, the department has also asked law enforcement to “exercise discretion before issuing citations for driving with a recently expired license or vehicle registration,” Gore said.

• Nearly 7.6 million residents have a Real ID as of Feb. 29, DMV said — the most recent numbers available. That number reflected a 448,525 increase over a month earlier, when more than 7.1 million people had obtained their Real ID. However, DMV is recommending that residents whose licenses are expiring soon renew them online and apply for their Real ID later, when field offices can serve more customers — “especially now that President Trump has indicated the Real ID enforcement date will be pushed back,” Gore said.

Theo Douglas is Assistant Managing Editor of Industry Insider — California.