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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Most drivers would probably prefer a visit with the dentist rather than waiting for an hour or more at the motor vehicle licensing office, but the long waits could become a thing of the past now that the GNWT is considering new online services.

Maureen Miller, supervisor at the Department of Transportation's Yellowknife motor vehicle licensing office, displays the recently–updated queue flow system that provides customers with real-time expected wait times in the Laing Building office on Tuesday. - Laura Busch/NNSL photo

The Department of Transportation is looking into moving some of its services online to cut down on wait times, Transportation Minister David Ramsay pledged in the legislative assembly last Friday.

The promise came after Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins pushed the issue of lengthy waits at Yellowknife's motor vehicles office.

"How many of us have sat in the waiting room at the motor vehicle office watching the Food Network while we waited to renew our driver's licence or vehicle registration?" said Hawkins during his member's statement earlier in the day. "Quite frankly, this is a service that should be moving to go online."

During question period, Hawkins returned to the issue, asking Ramsay what was holding the department back from moving forward on making some services such as licence and vehicle registration renewal available online - which is currently done in other jurisdictions such as Saskatchewan and Ontario.

Ramsay said he would bring the idea to the department and committed to getting back to the members of the legislature "sooner rather than later" with when this change could be implemented.

The Yellowknife motor vehicle licensing office has already been working to improve customer satisfaction for the past few months, said Bobbie-Jo Walsh, manager of licensing and administration.

"We are working really hard to make it better for everybody," Walsh told Yellowknifer Tuesday. "Better for the people who are using our service and better for us who are providing the service."

Within the last month, the office's queue flow system has been updated to provide customers walking in with estimated wait times so they can decide if they are willing to wait, said Walsh. Also, the office has been surveying customers about their feelings on service ­received at the licensing office for the past two weeks. The vast majority of those surveyed said they were happy with their experience and often waited less time than they expected, said Walsh.

Work is now being done to make the estimated wait times available online so that residents can check how long they might wait, said Walsh.

Daryl Dolynny, Range Lake MLA, also spoke about the lengthy wait times at the motor vehicle office during question period on Friday. He said he has heard concerns from his constituents about how long it can take for drivers in Yellowknife to take their driver's exams. Once drivers make an appointment for a test, they generally wait about three months, he said.

"I know there are wait times. The department has been looking at a way to address this," said Ramsay when asked what was happening at the Yellowknife office to cause these delays. "About 60 per cent of all driver examinations are done in Yellowknife and that was by one driver examiner."

Recently, the department has restructured and moved driver's examinations to the transport compliance section, said Ramsay. Also, the Department of Transportation is working on a plan to reduce waiting times further by training highway transport officers to run the tests, which can help alleviate wait times, especially while other staff members are away on vacation.

When prompted, Ramsay also committed to providing the members of the legislative assembly with a comprehensive review of motor vehicle licensing services and comparing these services with the rest of Canada.

"In some of the other communities in the Northwest Territories, the wait times aren't what we see here in Yellowknife," he added.

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