The state improved an outdated design in the mainframe Thursday, Matthew Boudreaux, deputy OMV commissioner, said in a statement Monday afternoon. At that point, there had been no outages since the update, he said.
"Friday, Saturday and Monday have been as good as we've seen in months," Boudreaux said.
Adele Dauphin, president of the Louisiana Public Tag Agent Association, confirmed that she saw a dramatic improvement in the system. Last Monday morning, outages were occurring every half hour, she said; then, on Friday, the system worked.
The problems went back to at least February, disrupting a system that the state relies on to issue driver's licenses and registrations and causing long wait times for Louisianans seeking those services.
Former OMV Commissioner Dan Casey said the OMV's 50-year-old software system was contributing to the problem. The agency is gearing up to replace that system, but fully installing it could take up to three years.
In the meantime, the Office of Technology Services was attempting other fixes to the software.
Two weeks ago, Gov. Jeff Landry declared a state of emergency related to the outages, waiving late fees for those renewing Class E driver's licenses, the kind most drivers use. He also waived the procurement process for the OMV's new software, a process that can take six to nine months.
Casey resigned his post as commissioner last month, saying he wanted to spend more time with family. In his stead, Landry appointed Bryan Adams, formerly the state fire marshal.
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