Long lines, people camping overnight continue as MVC computers back online following outage

The New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission can once again process transactions after a computer network connection problem was fixed after temporarily shutting down locations throughout New Jersey, but that didn’t stop the long lines and people camping out overnight in Edison.

News 12 Staff

Sep 22, 2020, 3:20 PM

Updated 1,483 days ago

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The New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission can once again process transactions after a computer network connection problem was fixed after temporarily shutting down locations throughout New Jersey, but that didn’t stop the long lines and people camping out overnight in Edison.
“I’m pretty patient and I'm going to take my time, hopefully as long as they'll see me today, I'll be all right,” says Shatoya Travis, of Plainfield.
MVC officials believe many people are not aware of the new rules, allowing much more to be done online, leading to unnecessary trips, often to more than one MVC office.
"I went to Newark two days ago and yeah, no, I didn't even get seen,” says Travis. “Then I went to Rahway yesterday, and they said the computers and everything was down, so they stopped seeing people and then I just said let me just take a chance and go a little further."
MVC officials admit the Newark office, which is regional, and the Wayne office, which is dealing with construction, sometimes turn customers away who are in line before they open. But they say coming after 8 a.m. is much more affective, at which time you get issued a number and later, a text telling you when they can see you.
According to agency officials, the outage was initially reported Monday around 9 a.m. and was resolved about four hours later.
Officials said a “vendor software issue” caused the problem, though further details were not disclosed. It added another layer of frustration for those people trying to get something accomplished.
The issue prohibited staffers from processing transaction online or in MVC offices across the state.
Senior hours also begin today at state MVCs for new and used car purchases only. There are no appointments necessary, and times are from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, intended for customers 65 and over, and for those medically prohibited from wearing a mask.
AP wire services helped contribute to this report.