Big Driver’s License Change Passes NJ Senate — And It’s Not REALID

NEW JERSEY - A new bill advancing in the New Jersey legislature would allow drivers to store their licenses on their phones and leave behind the need for plastic identification.

The bill, S1297, advanced by the Senate Transportation Committee last week after a unanimous Thursday vote, would allow digital licenses to be used in place of physical ID cards at airports, traffic stops and more. The digital cards would be accessible on any device with Internet capability, including cell phones and tablets.

The bill has since been referred to the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee.

If signed into law, the measure would give the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission up to six years to develop the digital license technology before rolling it out to the public, according to the bill text. For now, that deadline is still years ahead of the new REAL ID deadline for New Jersey drivers, which is currently set at May, 7, 2025. Read more: What's Going On With REAL ID? Things To Know In NJ

The measure would also make New Jersey the 12th state to offer a digital license for drivers, joining the likes of Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri and Utah. In fact, digital state licenses are accepted at major international transit hubs like John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport; digital licenses are not yet accepted at Newark Liberty International Airport.

It would also be the latest digital step for the NJMVC, which already offers digital vehicle registration and insurance ID cards. The NJMVC may also charge a fee for the issuance of a mobile license.

The digital licenses — which may include a basic driver’s license, motorcycle license or probationary driver’s license — can be updated in real-time by the state motor vehicle department and can even conceal personal information, according to the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators.

The association argues the mobile licenses are safer over physical cards that can be “easily be lost or stolen, become broken or damaged, contain outdated information, offer too much information (including personally identifiable information), and can more easily be replicated by counterfeiters."

“[A digital license] offers safe, secure, and trustable technologies that allow for completely touchless transactions, selective information release, data protection and so much more," the association added.