Reinforcements Coming For Nantucket's Beleaguered RMV Office

Reinforcements are coming to Nantucket’s beleaguered RMV office. Well, one at least.

After months of citizen complaints about the lack of RMV services for island residents, Nantucket’s state representatives last month called the state on the carpet. That plea has been answered, as the Massachusetts Department of Transportation announced late last week that it had hired a new full-time employee for the Nantucket RMV office who begins work today.

“The new employee will be in training for a week and a half and will be responsible for processing transactions for customers who have appointments,” said Jacquelyn Goddard, of the MassDOT Communications Office. “The RMV will increase appointment availability starting the week of April 25 by providing a resource from the mainland until the new Nantucket employee is fully trained. Customer service hours at the Nantucket office will remain the same: weekdays from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.”

Road tests are also returning, Goddard said, and those will be conducted each Friday at Nantucket High School. Island residents can make an appointment for a road test by visiting the RMV office at the Town & County Building on Broad Street.

More than two years since the initial COVID-19 lockdown, the Nantucket RMV office has been limping along with just one full-time employee, resulting in a limited number of in-person appointments and no road tests available on-island. Nantucketers are routinely traveling off-island and even to Martha’s Vineyard to get appointments and to access RMV services.

“The RMV’s inaction continues to put a financial strain on families and businesses who are forced to travel off island, costing hundreds of dollars and many hours, in order to conduct basic transactions and inquiries that cannot be completed online,” ​​Sen. Julian Cyr and Rep. Dylan Fernandes said in a statement issued last month. “The current process is creating potential liabilities as important appointments are delayed. It is long past time to fully reopen Nantucket’s RMV to the public.”

The Nantucket RMV was completely closed for a full six months at the outset for the pandemic, and only reopened on a limited basis in September 2020. The following year-and-a-half has been a long period of frustration for island residents who have routinely taken to social media to vent their feelings about the lack of service at the RMV.