Buffalo, NY (WBEN) Erie County and Niagara County clerks say if you need to get your driver's license renewed or take care of any other DMV issues, you'll need to do it before Friday at noon. That's because the state is closing down all DMV offices for a statewide system upgrade.
Erie County Clerk Mickey Kearns compares this to an upgrade on your phone system. "It's a software update we're looking to bring. Well, New York State is looking to get rid of decades of old technology. It's a secure platform, so faster transaction processing, fewer delays, hopefully less service outages, expanding online options. So we're really looking forward to modernizing our system. I think it's going to be a positive thing," says Kearns. He says if you came in and you had to do three transactions under the current system, you'd have to make three payments. Now you'll be able to do all payments, all those three transactions with one payment.
He adds during this time, the state DMV will migrate about 30 million records to the new system and complete the transition to bring the first phase of the upgrade online. “After months of extensive training, our staff is ready to roll. We are optimistic this state-wide upgrade will streamline our work and further improve the customer experience,” says Kearns. “We thank the public for their flexibility and patience during the initial roll-out period as everyone adjusts to the new DRIVES system.”
Niagara County Clerk Joe Jasztremski says if you need DMV services if you can do it online, do it online. "You want to make an appointment if anybody needs to come into our DMV office next week, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, the 18th, 19th or 20th," urges Jasztremski. "We opened up some more appointments on our Niagara county.gov website. And I encourage people to get on the website and make an appointment because we want to try and do the best we can to service our constituents."
In Erie County, appointments can be made 24/7 online at erie.gov/clerk or by calling the Clerk’s Outreach Center (Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm and on Thursdays until 7pm) at 716-858-8864.