SOUTH BEND - Governor Mitch Daniels formally dedicated the new and improved South Bend license branch today and said he expects the new branch to become one of the best locations in what is becoming one of the best Bureau of Motor Vehicles departments in the country.
Daniels noted that the new branch, located downtown on South St. Joseph Street, offers a vastly improved layout, convenient location within walking distance of public transportation and other public services, and increased capacity to further reduce customer visit times.
"Last year, when the BMV had decided on a different location for the branch, residents here told me it wasn't the right choice. Standing here today, it's clear to me they were right," said Gov. Daniels, who was joined at the event by BMV Commissioner Ron Stiver.
On average this year, BMV customers across the state have been able to complete their license branch visits in less than nine minutes. That represents a remarkable improvement over past years and has contributed to customer satisfaction ratings of 97 and 98 percent.
Average customer visit times across the six branches in St. Joseph and Elkhart have been reduced to 11 minutes, 33 seconds year-to-date in 2008. Average visit times over the same timeframe in 2006 and 2007 were 28 minutes, 47 seconds, and 17 minutes, 30 seconds, respectively.
"Many of our reforms are aimed at saving citizens from going to a branch at all. But when you do have to go in person, we want the visit to be as quick and pleasant as possible," said the governor.
Daniels encouraged customers to avoid any line at all by taking advantage of new online services and partnerships with more than 150 automotive dealerships across Indiana. To-date, more than 700,000 Hoosiers have renewed their registrations online, taking advantage of a $5 discount and collectively saving over $3.5 million.
In addition, last month the BMV expanded online services through the launch of myBMV, a secure and personalized online portal in which customers can complete several BMV transactions from the convenience of home or work, as well as sign up for email reminders for driver's license and registration expiration dates. Already, more than 50,000 Hoosiers have established a myBMV account.
Improved BMV services in St. Joseph and Elkhart Counties include:
- Nine auto dealerships in St. Joseph County and six dealerships in Elkhart County are partnering with the BMV to offer on-site title and registration services to their customers;
- Customers can schedule appointments for visits to the South Bend, Mishawaka, Walkerton, Elkhart and Goshen license branches;
- The expanded and remodeled Mishawaka branch was opened in December 2007, and the expanded and remodeled Goshen branch opened in March 2008;
- Customers can check online to see the current visit times for all branches in the state;
- Drivers' insurance agents can now electronically file proof of insurance forms with the BMV.
###Media Contacts Dennis Rosebrough, Communications Director, (317) 233-5323 or
drosebrough@bmv.in.gov Julie Fletcher, Deputy Communications Director, (317) 233-2517 or
jfletcher@bmv.in.gov
« Back to News Release List
Link to this event: