RICHMOND, Va. (WAVY) — The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles is adding hundreds of thousands of online appointments for its customer service centers as COVID-19 restrictions across Virginia ease.

This week, the DMV started its phasing of adding 184,000 new appointments. More than half a million Virginians have already reserved their spots to visit centers in person.

“Over the past two weeks, we’ve added 100,000 appointments to our calendar in addition to what’s been added today. We’ll add more on June 15 and more in July. The plan is to continue that as we train and hire new employees,” said Jessica Cowardin, a spokesperson for the DMV.

Cowardin says that appointments online will continue to be the way customers can be served at their centers.

“Right now, the system is working well with us so we’re continuing with the appointment system, ” she said. “As we’re expanding opportunities, we’re seeing availability become sooner so we know customers appreciate that and in post-appointment surveys, we’re seeing people really do love the new process.”

Cowardin says with the online process, they’ve been able to process more transactions than they did prior to the pandemic.

According to the DMV, they’ve conducted 15 million transactions since reopening customer service centers in May 2020. Many were done online or by mail.

Last week, they completed 365,000 with 73,000 done in person, according to the DMV.

Cowardin says it’s important for people to be prepared for their appointments and have the correct paperwork.

They’re also running into attendance issues for in-person appointments.

“We are still seeing no-shows and customers scheduling multiple appointments. That takes away from those who need the appointments. We’re constantly monitoring our system. We have to double book appointments in many cases to have our operation run efficiently. We’re recommending for people to just cancel their appointments if they don’t need it,” she said.

Cowardin recommends checking out their online services can help you avoid a trip to the DMV. They offer many services such as renewals but if you need testing or anything dealing with original documents, you’ll probably need to schedule an appointment.

DMV Select locations have been helpful with providing vehicle transactions such as title registrations and licenses plates, according to Cowardin, who says looking for appointments outside your neighborhood is also helpful.

DMV Connect also has appointments available and a new stop has been added to Hampton Roads.

Click here to schedule appointments.