In an effort to make the lives of New Jersey’s 7 million drivers a little easier, the Christie Administration today announced that the Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC) is inviting drivers and ID holders of all ages to renew their licenses by mail and Skip the Trip to their local motor vehicle agency.

In November 2012, the MVC began offering customers born on or before December 1, 1964 the ability to renew their license and non-driver IDs by mail.

“Our initial ‘Skip the Trip’ initiative yielded positive results,” said Chairman and Chief Administrator Raymond P. Martinez. “In fact, 340,000, or 60 percent of those invited to renew by mail, took us up on our offer. The huge success of our initial offering made us step up efforts to be able to expand the program to all of New Jersey’s eligible drivers and ID holders.”

Beginning next week, the MVC will begin mailing in batches Skip the Trip invitations to eligible drivers and ID holders due to renew in October. The MVC estimates that 140,000 customers will begin receive the invitation next week alone and that over 1.5 million people will be invited to Skip the Trip in the next year.

“If our acceptance rate holds,” continued Martinez, “about 1 million less people will be visiting our agencies in the next 12 months. That’s a good thing for them and it’s a good thing for those people who still have to visit an agency to conduct their business because there will far less people waiting in line to be served.”

Today’s announcement was made at the Baker’s Basin Motor Vehicle Agency — one of the top five busiest agencies in the state.

Individuals invited to Skip the Trip will only have to complete their renewal slip, enclose a check or money order with the appropriate fee and within 7-to-10 days, a new four-year driver’s license or non-driver ID will be issued and sent through the regular mail. The secure renewal process utilizes the customer’s existing photo and address on record with the MVC.

Although a large percentage of customers will receive the Skip the Trip notice, there are some who will not. Customers with a Commercial Driver License (CDL), Graduated Driver License (GDL, Temporary Visa Restriction (TVR), ignition interlock device, boating endorsement or suspension are not eligible for mail renewal at this time and will be instructed to visit an agency.

To help get the word out about this great customer convenience, the MVC will begin today with a media campaign that will help reinforce the Skip the Trip message. The MVC has been working to develop these materials, and in an effort to reach younger drivers, an online component has been included in the campaign that invites people to post how they plan to spend their newfound time. SkipItList.com also provides citizens with important information about the Skip the Trip program, including frequently asked questions.

Skip the Trip is made possible because of enhanced MVC security procedures including the utilization of state-of-the-art facial recognition technology to confirm eligible customers’ identities prior to mailing a renewal notice. [TLS]