A computer crash that stranded those waiting for driver’s licenses and vehicle documents on Friday was the latest in a series of problems that has prompted the state to allocate more than $93 million to revamp its systems.
Gov. John Hickenlooper’s Office of Information Technology called the initiative one of its biggest upcoming projects, with a dedicated staff and hopes of a finished product meant to fix chronic problems at the division.
“It’s one of our top priorities, obviously, because you can’t get more public-facing in terms of impact with technology than the Division of Motor Vehicles when everyone needs to go through there,” said Tauna Lockhart, spokeswoman for the technology office.
The funds, which were approved over the 2014 and 2015 legislative sessions, are aimed at a fix that is estimated to go into effect in December 2017, the Department of Revenue told The Denver Post on Friday.
Planning for the initiative, called the Driver License, Record, Identification and Vehicle Enterprise Solution, or DRIVES, began in 2012 and a solicitation for proposals went out in June 2014.
The DOR says the $93.3 million project will pay for a software, hardware, equipment and professional services overhaul that Hickenlooper’s administration hopes will reduce wait times and streamline processes.
“The primary goal of this project is to provide a flexible, reliable, accurate and integrated solution for driver and vehicle services, as well as business licensing and revenue accounting,” Sarah Werner, a DMV spokeswoman, said Friday. “This project is the cornerstone to our ability to meet the governor’s goal of reducing wait times in our driver license offices to 15 minutes.”
The current driver’s license system was introduced in 1994, and the state titling and registration system was developed and implemented between 1983 and 1988.
“I’m, of course, concerned about it,” said state Rep. Bob Rankin, R-Carbondale, who sits on the Joint Budget Committee which oversaw funding for the project. “It’s just so big and there are a lot of different pieces of it.”
Rankin said the project is important because of the “outrageous” wait times at DMV offices, especially, he added, since licensing offices are where people see state government the most directly.
“We will be monitoring it,” he said Friday. “We intend to very carefully monitor a set of milestones and make sure we are accomplishing what we sent out to do.”
Friday’s system crash — the fourth in 12 months that lasted at least an hour — spanned roughly two hours in the morning from about 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
As the state was working to bring the system back online, Hickenlooper was touting his administration’s efforts to improve the motor vehicle division at a community forum in Frisco.
“Your time matters,” Hickenlooper said. “We are spending millions of dollars to shorten the lines and the waiting times to get a driver’s license or get your car registered.
“Every place we can find to shorten the amount of time it takes people to deal with government, we are going to do it,” he added.
Rebecca Hora took the bus from Arvada to Lakewood’s licensing office on Friday and arrived at the DMV to a line of people wrapped around the building at 8 a.m.
Hora doesn’t drive and needs a license while she hunts for a job, but the department’s computer problem is stacking the odds against her, she said.
“I need a license,” she said while waiting for the system to return. “I can’t get a job or do anything without it, and I have to take the bus here. This is the second time this week I’ve been here trying to get one.”
Natalie Clement and Jesse Capron were sitting on the curb outside the Lakewood DMV office at 11 a.m. on Friday as the outage continued.
The couple had been waiting since 9 a.m., when they were told a computer error might prevent Capron from getting his license.
“I thought it was going to go pretty smooth, and then this happened,” Capron said. “I’m just irritated. We took the whole day off.”
State officials say the overhaul is expected to take place in two 18-month phases starting first with the licensing system before moving on to the state titling and registration apparatus.
Friday’s crash was blamed on problems with a technical update scheduled for Thursday night, state officials said.
The DMV said the three other system failures in the last year happened on Sept. 24, 2014, April 9 and May 12. Two of those were caused by computer glitches due to problems with federal computer systems, the DMV says.
“The biggest challenge with all these projects is making sure they’re meeting all the deadlines so we don’t get in a situation where we are totally out of whack down the line,” state Sen. Tim Neville R-Littleton, who chairs the legislator’s Joint Technology Committee, said of the project.
“We have a number of legacy systems that need to be replaced,” he added. “Money doesn’t always buy all the solutions.”
Jesse Paul: 303-954-1733, jpaul@denverpost.com or twitter.com/JesseAPaul
Staff writer John Frank contributed reporting from Frisco.
