Self-service kiosks gaining traction at state licensing bureaus

The Boston Herald reports that Massachusetts GOP gubernatorial candidate Charles Baker is citing multilingual self-service kiosks as a way to improve service and cost-effectiveness at that state's Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) offices.

"While other states have created award-winning programs to meet the needs of their customers, the Patrick administration has imposed more than $75 million in outrageous new RMV fees," Baker said in a statement.

Baker said the 100 proposed kiosks would only take an average of 86 seconds per transaction as opposed to the roughly 12 minutes he said it takes with an RMV employee.

In making his case, Baker cited kiosk use in Mississippi, where residents can renew their driver's licenses at self-service kiosks. According to a recent report in The Hattiesburg American, the Mississippi kiosks print a temporary license for immediate use. The Mississippi Department of Motor Vehicles then mails the customer's official license to his or her address within three to five days.