Julianna Bayley, Strategic Communications Manager for the UCI Transportation and Distribution Services stands with the first self-service kiosk outside of a DMV office that offers vehicle registration renewals. in Irvine, CA on Monday, April 17, 2017. (Photo by Sam Gangwer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

UCI student Kyle Kenney uses the first self-service kiosk outside of a DMV office that offers vehicle registration renewals. The machine, resembling an ATM, sits in the entry way to the Transportation and Distribution Services Offices on campus and will quickly print a car registration sticker. in Irvine, CA on Monday, April 17, 2017. (Photo by Sam Gangwer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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UCI student Kyle Kenney shows the freshly printed registration sticker he received from the first self-service kiosk outside of a DMV office that offers vehicle registration renewals. The machine, resembling an ATM, sits in the entry way to the UCI Transportation and Distribution Services Offices on campus. in Irvine, CA on Monday, April 17, 2017. (Photo by Sam Gangwer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

UCI is the first site in California offering a self-service kiosk outside of a DMV office that offers vehicle registration renewals. The machine, resembling an ATM, sits in the entry way to the Transportation and Distribution Services Offices on campus. in Irvine, CA on Monday, April 17, 2017. (Photo by Sam Gangwer, Orange County Register/SCNG)



IRVINE — The tall yellow machine is especially helpful to those who procrastinate, and where better to stick an experimental one than on a college campus, home to students waiting until the last moment to turn in that report for History 101?

Actually, the Department of Motor Vehicles plopped California’s first-ever vehicle-registration kiosk outside of its field offices here for a very simple reason.

“(UCI officials) were the first who said yes to us,” DMV spokeswoman Jessica Gonzalez said.

So the kiosk, on the second floor over the campus Police Department, was recently installed to provide “an additional resource for the campus,” said Julianna Bayley, spokeswoman for the UCI Transportation and Distribution Services.

It is meant to be a time-saver for students — and the general public. And who could be opposed to avoiding a long line at the local DMV office?

The agency long ago established an appointment system at its offices, and has added kiosks to 60 of its 170 field offices. The DMV’s pilot program also will feature kiosks at nine supermarkets in Los Angeles County beginning next month.

“This is the next step — taking the DMV business out of the field office,” Gonzalez said. “We are always looking for ways to offer alternative services to our customers.”

Many services can be accomplished on its website, where the DMV encourages drivers to do most of their business. Motorists can also renew vehicle registrations through the mail or by calling 800-777-0133.

But the DMV Now terminals allow customers to use a screen to process a vehicle registration and its payment in minutes, sometimes less. If a driver lagged on renewing a registration, no reason to chance getting pulled over for not having an updated tag on the rear license plate. Others just might want to tackle the whole chore quickly.

Others just might want to tackle the whole chore quickly.

Users get a registration tag and registration card immediately. In addition, owners can file for non-operation status for a vehicle, telling the DMV it will not be driven so the registration fee should not be charged.

The self-service terminal at UCI is open weekdays. Out front, there is 20-minute parking for the public, making it easy for those from outside the university to drop by.

More services might be available from the kiosks in the future.

“If the pilot is successful and others are interested, we will be able to expand it more,” Gonzalez said. “This way, we’ll have our field offices, retail offices, and campus locations to help our customers.”

Carlsbad-based Intellectual Technology is providing the kiosks. It charges the DMV $3.75 for a successful transaction.

“These blue and yellow machines are as easy to use as the ATM at your local bank,” trumpets a DMV YouTube video.

Indeed. It took less than a minute for Itzel Salgado, 28, to renew her registration Monday at a kiosk in the Santa Ana DMV.

“It’s faster and you get the sticker right away,” said Salgado, who prefers in-person transactions. “One time, I did it through the mail and it got lost. So I started coming here. I have four cars, so I feel like I’m here all the time.”

Since the California DMV installed its first self-service terminal in October 2010, customers had renewed 5.4 million vehicles using one of them as of December 2016, Gonzalez said.

Garden Grove resident Karina Tenorio, 35, prefers to do her registration in person and is another fan of the kiosks.

“It’s easier,” she said after scanning her vehicle information and paying with a debit card at the Santa Ana DMV.

Sometimes, though, even the kiosks can have a line, she said. So the idea of kiosks spreading across California is appealing to her.

“That would be even more convenient,” Tenorio said.

UCI’s DMV NOW

The campus self-service terminal is on the second floor of the Transportation and Distribution Services Offices, at the 200 Public Services Building. Its hours are 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. The kiosk opened last week, and a ribbon-cutting ceremony is planned for May 9.