JULY 2020 - Department of Motor Vehicles Monthly Status Update - Report to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee of the State of California - Executive Summary

Sep 20, 2026

Monthly status update report for July 2020 submitted by California’s Department of Motor Vehicles to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, summarizing legal reporting requirements and DMV actions. The executive summary covers field office wait-times and business process improvements, including limited non-appointment services, credit card and digital wallet payment adoption, REAL ID workload figures, online/remote renewal waivers during the state of emergency, commercial license extensions, and staffing progress toward new positions and training modules.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages26

Reading Time1 h 6 min

AccessFree to download

Executive Summary

July 2020 Highlights

REAL ID Customers and Workload

DMV Work Action Plan Updates

Credit Card Acceptance in Field Offices

Staffing

On-boarding Training Modules

JULY 2020 DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES MONTHLY STATUS UPDATE REPORT TO THE JOINT LEGISLATIVE BUDGET COMMITTEE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Budget Act of 2018 (SB 862, Chapter 449, Statutes of 2018) and the Budget Act of 2020 (SB 75, Chapter 6, Statutes of 2020) require the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to submit monthly reports to the Legislature regarding the state of field office wait-times and efforts to improve business processes. July 2020 Highlights: - DMV continues to serve customers with appointments and limited in-person transactions. The limited non-appointment transactions include: o Paying registration for a vehicle impounded because of registration-related issues o Reinstating a suspended or revoked driver license o Applying for a reduced-fee or no-fee identification card o Processing commercial driver license transactions o Applying for a disabled person parking placard o Adding an ambulance certificate or firefighter endorsement to a driver license o Verifying a transit training document to drive a transit bus o Processing DMV Express customers for REAL ID transactions, if time and space allow o Vehicle verifications - DMV provided an automatic one-year extension to Californians age 70 and older with noncommercial driver licenses expiring between March 1 and December 31, 2020. - Governor Gavin Newsom signed an Executive Order waiving in-person renewals for eligible driver license and identification cardholders who have reached their maximum of out-of-office renewals. The waiver is in effect for the length of California’s State of Emergency or until modified. Nearly all California drivers younger than age 70 are now eligible to renew their license online or by mail. - DMV extended all commercial driver licenses, learner’s permits, endorsements, and certificates expiring between March and September 2020 through September 30, 2020. - As of July 2020, there are 8,443,563 Californians with a REAL ID compliant driver license or identification card. Table of Contents REAL ID Customers and Workload | − Monthly Driver License and Identification Cards Produced
− Total Californians with REAL IDs
DMV Work Action Plan Updates | 2
2 | | --- | --- | | − Credit Card Acceptance in Field Offices
Staffing | 3 | | − Hiring Status
− Absenteeism
Process Improvements | 4
4 | | − No Updates
Information Technology | 5 | | − DMV Now Kiosks | 6 | | − Online Transactions
WindowHours | 7 | | − Moving Average of the Proportion of Actual to Max Window Hours | 8 | | − Percentage of Actual to Maximum Window Hours | 9 | | − Statewide Monthly Average of Actual to Maximum Window Hours
Wait Times | 9 | | − Average Wait Time for Non-Appointment Customers – Statewide | 10 | | − Average Wait Time for Non-Appointment Customers – Monthly Top 20 Offices | 10 | | − Average Wait Time by Grade – Statewide | 11 | | − Wait Times by Time Range – By Region | 12 | | − Wait Times by Time Range – Statewide
Appendix | 13 | − A: Field Office Average Wait Times by Region 15 − B: Outage Summary 23 REAL ID CUSTOMERS AND WORKLOAD Cards Produced As of July 2020, DMV produced over 9.3 million REAL ID driver license and identification cards. This includes new REAL ID cards issued, as well as existing REAL ID cardholders who received a duplicate or renewal card. Unlike new REAL ID cards, renewals and duplicates do not require an in-person field office visit. Total Californians with REAL IDs As of July 2020, there are 8,443,563 Californians with a REAL ID compliant driver license or identification card. The Department of Homeland Security extended the REAL ID enforcement date to October 1, 2021, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. DMV WORK ACTION PLAN UPDATES Credit Card Acceptance in Field Offices Following recommendations from Governor Newsom’s Strike Team, all DMV field offices now accept credit card and digital wallet payments. In alignment with h

FAQs

What is the purpose of the July 2020 DMV monthly status update?

It reports to the California Legislature on field office wait-times and efforts to improve DMV business processes, as required by the Budget Acts of 2018 and 2020.

How many REAL ID cards does DMV report producing and how many Californians have REAL IDs?

DMV reports producing over 9.3 million REAL ID cards in July 2020 and states there are 8,443,563 Californians with REAL ID-compliant driver licenses or identification cards.

What payment and renewal/extension actions are highlighted for customers?

Field offices accept credit card and digital wallet payments with a 2.3% service fee, and the report highlights executive-order waivers for in-person renewals plus automatic extensions for eligible driver license and ID expirations.

Sep 20, 2026

Uploaded by Lucas Martin