The Land Transportation Office (LTO) starts Monday its week-long celebration in connection with its 98th founding anniversary with the theme: “LTO at 98 Getting Stronger Through the Years.”

According to LTO chief Assistant Secretary Alberto Suansing, this year's celebration will highlight many significant changes the agency has undergone throughout the years which has led to many significant achievements.

“While the agency admits much still needs to be done in terms of providing the best possible service to the six million motorists in the country, it however acknowledges that there have been many advancements the agency can be proud of,” he said.

Suansing said that first, being one of a few fully automated national agencies of government and the only one to do so without any cost to the national government through the Build Own and Operate scheme, the LTO through its partnership with Stradcom Corporation has reaped the benefits of computerization.

“Now processing of LTO transactions is so much faster and simpler. What used to take months to process now takes hours and in some instances seconds. Motor vehicle owners can transact anywhere in the country because all the LTO offices are linked to a central database. Now you don’t need to keep on going back to your original LTO office to register your vehicle or renew your driver’s license. Computerization has even allowed the LTO to take service a step further by bringing it closer to the people,’’ he said.

In partnership with Stradcom, the LTO launched the E-Patrol which is a mobile LTO office able to receive transactions such as motor vehicle registration and driver’s license renewal in remote areas throughout the country.

The LTO also opened several Driver’s License Renewal Centers in malls and other public places so as to make it more convenient for motorists to renew their Driver’s Licenses without having to go to LTO offices.

Another added service was the revolutionary Text LTO 2600 wherein details of a vehicle van can be verified in seconds. Because of all these improvements in service efficiency, the LTO is now the only agency of government that has been ISO:2001 certified.

On future improvement plans, the LTO is not stopping there, agency is aiming to offer more new and innovative services to the motoring public. Among these added services include Driver Thru  Registration using RFID which means that you motor vehicle registration will only take 5 to 10 minutes using the newest RFID technology.

Online Driver’s License Renewal and delivery of Driver’s License to your doorstep is also another innovative plan that the LTO wants to implement in the near future.

The LTO also plans to further the interconnectivity of other government agencies such as the BIR and the Bureau of Customs in order to curb smuggling and tax evasion.

Also, the LTO wants to wage an all out war against colorum vehicles using RFID technology to rid our streets of illegal public utility vehicles and make our streets safer and improve the livelihood of legitimate drivers and operators.