If the lines are moving a little slower at the Bureau of Motor Vehicle (BMV) office on St. Thomas-St. John, there’s a reason for it: Local personnel are training on the agency’s new vehicle-registration system, so there might be some delays.
The new software, which will link to the territory’s new emergency 911 system, implemented about three weeks ago, immediately updates customers’ vehicle-registration information and gives law enforcement officers real-time access to it.
There didn’t appear to be any delays on St. Thomas early Monday, but BMV Director Jerris Browne said later in the day that business picks up during the third and last weeks of the month, along with holidays, and the agency just wanted to send out an early warning.
"We want to get everything done as efficiently and quickly as possible, but until the employees get familiar and master the new system, there might be some delays," he said Monday from St. Croix. "We just wanted to be cautious and spread the word, and are apologizing in advance for those delays and we’re asking the public for their continued patience and cooperation."
The lines move faster when all BMV employees come out to work, but the agency was running with two down Monday, Browne explained. Two individuals had been temporarily relocated to BMV from the Bureau of Internal Revenue, which has long been wracked with a mold-infestation problem.
"They came in to work with us for a while, and we trained them on the system, but their office reopened today so we’re short of employees, and that’s one of the main reasons we’re putting out this notice," Browne said.
