It’s good to see Mississippi taking advantage of technology to provide citizens with more convenient ways to access government services.

Last week, the Department of Motor Vehicles was unveiling the automated kiosks that drivers will be able to use to renew their licenses.

The kiosks, similar to those used at self-service airport check-ins, are being installed at Department of Motor Vehicles buildings in Jackson, Tupelo, Olive Branch, Hattiesburg, Gulfport and D’Iberville. If the test run is effective, additional machines presumably will be installed elsewhere around the state.

The kiosks are designed to give drivers another option than waiting in line to see a clerk when they want to renew their license. It’s not the only self-serve option available either. The agency already allows for licenses to be renewed over the Internet.

Although we commend the innovation of the kiosks, we don’t understand why the people who use them should have to pay the $3 fee that is tacked on by the private company that owns and operates the machines. It seems to us that the state should pay that fee.

After all, every time the kiosk is used, it saves labor costs that the state would otherwise have to expend handling the renewals the old-fashioned way. It is nonsensical that the public should have to pay more for doing the government’s work.

Compare it to gas stations. If self-service gasoline, when it was introduced, had cost more than full-service, we’d still have attendants at every station.

Self-service saves the government money. It should pass the savings on.