Those new DMV kiosks in Safeway...

[EightFingers]

....are not free. We decided to try it on a car that was $166 to register for the year.
The fees totaled almost $8. []
KITV news said they were supposed to be free.
Since I have two vehicles, I’ll just drive to Pahoa and wait 1 minute in line.....

[leilanidude]

I’ll just drive to Pahoa and wait 1 minute in line.....
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Good luck on that 1 minute in line.
The word has got out and people from Hilo drive to Pahoa to stand in line because it is still quicker than Hilo. My last trip a few weeks back was 40 minutes in line. Staff at the office told me that it was "Hilo people" and it was every day, all day.

[ElysianWort]

Maybe I've just gotten lucky. I live between Hilo and Pahoa. About the same driving time to either DMV location.

But anyway I mentioned the luck because waiting in line at the Hilo location has really never been more than 5 minutes. I've lived here for 40 years and been visiting the Hilo location once a year for more than 25 years.

Of course I've heard horror stories and seen the waiting situation and the problems at other DMV's across the nation but never a problem in Hilo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzHOmiV0eGU

[Chunkster]

There's this wonderful, apparently little used way to avoid lines when doing one's annual DMV registration renewal. It's called the U.S. Mail, and it costs 55 cents. I actually pay less than that because I bought a ton of those "forever" stamps a few years back.

Meanwhile, I didn't even know there was a DMV kiosk in the Hilo Safeway, and I go there every week. I thought they were only on Oahu.

[kalakoa]

Another way for DMV to reduce wait times is to simply dedicate a window to "registration renewal, cash only" -- of course, this doesn't require awarding a contract to the kiosk vendor.

Seems like every time I visit DMV, the entire line is waiting behind one complicated transaction. Last time it was a guy trying to register a tourbus...

[bluesboy]

the line at the hilo DMV has always been about 5 minutes or less.

isn't registering online an option too?

[glinda]

KITV news said they were supposed to be free.

When I heard the news blurb on the tv (Hawaii News Now) they said on Oahu the city was picking up the tab, so the kiosk's are free. Whereas on the outer islands the local gov isn't willing to pick up the tab so it's being passed on to the consumers.

[leilanidude]

Whereas on the outer islands the local gov isn't willing to pick up the tab so it's being passed on to the consumers.
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Yes, because of government unions and reducing the cost of government is not a priority. Keeping those government union folks employed is more important.

[kalakoa]

Keeping those government union folks employed is more important.

Then why did the State allow kiosks in the first place?

[ironyak]

Because it allows us the privilege of paying for the service directly and keeping government "workers" employed through our taxes. Duh, win-win!