A Visit to the RMV

Yesterday, I had to renew my driver's license.

My visit to the Watertown Registry of Motor Vehicles was quite efficient. Tucked inside the Watertown Mall, I got on the end of the line with about thirty people ahead of me at 8:25AM. The Watertown registry opened promptly at 8:30AM, and the proceeded to process all of us on line very quickly.

A 'dispatcher' person listened to each of us, and directed us appropriately. It seemed as if she never had to spend more than a few seconds with each person, so the line went very fast.

Of course, I had to wait to someone to process my renewal. This turned out to be fairly pleasant. The waiting room featured a public announcement system whereby they call your ticket (mine was B210). There was no need to keep an eye on the "who's next" board. When it was my turn, I was processed very courteously and efficiently. I was out of there by 9:15AM.

I had read an article a few weeks ago in the Boston Globe about how well the RMV is working these days. Their web site is very useful. According to the article, the RMV updates the site frequently, to keep it current, and their recent ability to handle certain transations over the Web have made actual visits to the RMV more smooth.

It's rare to praise bureaucracy, but in this one encounter, the RMV worked very well.