Driver License
Record
Identification and
Vehicle
Enterprise
Solution
DRIVES errors result when the information entered into a transaction doesn’t align with one of the millions of pieces of information contained in the state’s registration and titling system.
If you aren’t quite certain what DRIVES is or how it functions, you probably aren’t alone. The Colorado DRIVES system is a fairly new addition to the DMV and Department of Revenue toolbox and has only been in full operation since August of 2018. The idea for an overarching state-wide database for titling, licensing, and accounting was first conceived during a 2012-2013 infrastructure assessment conducted by the Colorado Department of Revenue and the Governor’s Office of Information Technology.
Prior to the 2012-2013 study, Colorado’s titling system was desperately in need of an overhaul. The state had been relying on the DLS (Driver’s License System), which was implemented in the early 90s, and the even older CSTARS (Colorado State Titling and Registration System) system, which originated in the early 80s. Not only were the systems outdated and unable to handle the 5.1million identification records and 5.2 million registrations held in the state’s databases the systems weren’t centralized. Each county had their own system and then uploaded their records to the state’s databases. Updating and streamlining the systems was one of Governor Hickenlooper’s
mandates to alleviate long wait times at the DMV.
Funding for the project was approved during the 2014-2015 legislative session. $93,372,000 was allocated for the project, which was rolled out in two phases. The first phase, from 2015-2017, with a cost of $41 million, replaced the Driver’s License System and the second phase, from 2017-2018, with a price tag of $52 million, focused on replacing the CSTARS system.
In August of 2018, the project was completed and the state finally had one centralized system that could hold all of the identification, vehicle titling, and registration information for all of Colorado’s 6.12 million residents and their vehicles.
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