Many in private business found changes made out of necessity because of the COVID-19 pandemic actually improved their businesses, and have no plans to go back. To the agency's credit, the same appears to be true for West Virginia's Division of Motor Vehicles.
"The West Virginia DMV has advanced in technology, 20 to 25 years within the past two and a half years," DMV Commissioner Everett Frazier told MetroNews.
Such an advance might not have taken place without a catalyst of the magnitude of a pandemic. That is a shame. But at least now the agency is learning there are advantages to evolving. West Virginians seem to be happy with the changes, too -- from access to some services and transactions online to an appointment system when in-person interactions are necessary.
"Some people like the appointment system and some don't, but the people who like it are in and out of an office in 10 to 15 minutes tops," Frazier said.
Now, according to MetroNews, there are other ideas in the works such as modernizing mainframe-based technology or replacing standalone databases.
"There are some things in the pipeline, I'll keep them on the down low, but there are some good things coming," Frazier said.
Wonderful. But as there is no sense of urgency borne out of a deadly pandemic, the folks in Charleston will have to remember they have proved to us they are capable of moving quickly on this sort of thing.
And, now that we know it is possible, West Virginians aren't likely to tolerate a 20- to 25-year timeframe for changes that could better serve them now.