The Los Angeles County Superior Courts have added new pages to their website in an effort to save people time from driving to the courthouses and waiting in line.

The court’s website: www.lacourt.org, averages 1.5 million visits per month.

At its busiest traffic court location, wait time at the Metropolitan Courthouse has gone from hours to minutes on most days.

The most recent change to the website is the addition of the new Traffic Payment Plan feature which allows customers with non-delinquent citations to establish a payment plan and make incremental payments online over time.

Also, customers now have the option of making court-ordered partial payments online. Prior to the implementation of these features, customers had to appear before a judicial officer to make the request for a payment plan and partial payments could only be made at a courthouse.

The online traffic web pages have been redesigned to be easier to use. While the traffic page offers a comprehensive traffic questions and answers section, those people needing additional assistance will find that the Online Assistant has been enhanced to provide a more tailored experience for the customer.

The assistant guides the customer through the traffic pages while asking questions and giving instructions in order to provide information and options specific to the user’s traffic situation. Instructions are provided in English and Spanish with additional languages coming soon.

Last April, the court reduced the fees for many of its online services, including a reduction in the convenience fee to pay traffic tickets online. Users now pay $5 instead of the previous $10 fee.

The court continues to enhance the website-user experience by adding new services while improving existing features all designed to save litigants, attorneys and others time and money by getting online, not in line, at www.lacourt.org.

For those people who require assistance in person or do not have access to a computer, we are improving service at the courthouses as well. Walk-up windows have been opened at several courthouses. These windows allow people to resolve their traffic matters without having to stand in long security lines in order to enter the courthouse and visit the clerk’s offices.

Soon to come are kiosks that will be stationed at various courthouses which will also allow users to complete their traffic matters without entering the courthouses while providing this service during non-business hours. The statewide traffic amnesty program was launched on October 1.

People with qualifying unpaid traffic tickets and infractions whose fines were originally due to be paid on or before Jan. 1, 2013, may have both their debt reduced by 50 or 80 percent depending on income and have their driver’s license reinstated.

The program also includes a waiver of any civil assessments. In the first month of the program, GC Services staff (L.A. County’s delinquent debt-collection agency) fielded 128,000 calls regarding the program. 18,000 program participation forms have been submitted, involving nearly 50,000 citations.

More information regarding the amnesty program can be found at www.trafficamnesty.com or by calling GC Services at (800) 950-6280 for assistance in English and (800) 939-8068 for Spanish.

Traffic matters are handled at the following courthouses: