State DMV to shut down Presidents Day weekend to install system upgrades

The New York State Department of Motor Vehicles announced it will transition to a modernized, more secure, customer-focused system that will replace aging technology now in use — and combine multiplatform systems into one to streamline customer service.

The DMV said the rollout of the new system will take place during the long Presidents Day weekend in February. Installation is expected to begin with a DMV shutdown at 2 p.m. on Feb. 13 and be completed by the start of business on Feb. 18.

"With one consolidated, state-of-the-art system, we will be replacing hundreds of software applications, some of which date back to the days of Nelson Rockefeller," Mark J.F. Schroeder, commissioner of the DMV and chair of the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee, said in a statement. The reference was to the former vice president under Gerald Ford, who also was the 49th governor of New York — serving from January 1959 to December 1973.

While Schroeder said DMV staff have "worked tirelessly" to train and prepare for the system changes, he also asked the public for "patience" — noting there would be a period of adjustment "in the days immediately" following the rollout.

State offices were closed Monday for the Martin Luther King Jr., holiday and officials could not be reached for additional comment.

In the statement, the DMV said it believes the new system overhaul will further the department's goal of providing customers with the ability to service all their needs in one trip to an agency office. It also will provide customers with a more streamlined platform for online transactions, the DMV said, making it "easier for New Yorkers to do what they need to do on their own time and from the comfort of their own homes."

Ahead of the transition to the new system, the DMV is urging New Yorkers who need to renew licenses, non-driver identification cards and complete other transactions ahead of Feb. 13 to do so as soon as possible.

AAA on Tuesday clarified that it uses the same system as the DMV and its services will be down during the transition as well.

In addition to combining a multitude of separate platforms into a unified operating system, the DMV said the upgrade will reduce or eliminate paper forms, provide more avenues for remote, online transactions and services, consolidate data and create better security for users.

It also said the installation will be the first of two planned system upgrades, the second scheduled to take place in 2028.

Admitting that obsolete technologies have led not only to the ire of customers but also to ridicule, the DMV said in its statement: "These technology investments are part of the agency's larger effort to streamline its operations as the agency strives to achieve its vision to shatter perceptions of the DMV."