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California has significantly expanded its digital driver’s license program, joining several other states who have embraced the technology as a means of simplifying identity verification for their motorists.
Last week, Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 169 into law, which the Democrat’s office said “significantly expands” the state’s mobile driver’s license program, and “modernizes DMV operations by streamlining notices, renewals, and paperwork, improving efficiency and reducing costs.”
The bill, first introduced in 2023, expands California’s Mobile Driver License Pilot Program from 15 percent to 60 percent of the state’s drivers.
“California’s DMV has put in the hard work to make operations more efficient and modernize how people get things done,” Newsom said. “Now we’re going further by cutting the red tape that slows government down and giving more Californians the option to carry their ID right on their phone.”
Which States Have Digital Driver’s Licenses?
According to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), as of 2026, 20 U.S. states, alongside Puerto Rico, currently have active mobile driver’s license or digital ID programs that are recognized by the agency for federal use.
These permit residents to keep their state-issued license on a phone, either through a state-run app, or through their Apple, Google or Samsung digital wallets.
The states and territories where this is currently permitted include:
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Illinois
- Iowa
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maryland
- Montana
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Puerto Rico
- Utah
- Virginia
- West Virginia
Why Is California Expanding Access?
Even before the latest measure, California had been pushing to expand access to mobile driver’s licences.
Android and Apple users can sign up to the state’s program through the California DMV’s wallet app, and use these at a limited but growing number of locations, including participating airports like Los Angeles International and San Francisco International, or for age- and identity-verification with certain businesses and organizations.
According to the California DMV, the state has issued 3.9 million mobile driver’s licenses as of July 1—primarily in the more populous San Francisco and San Diego-Los Angeles regions—which are now accepted by over 800 businesses.
However, it urges drivers to continue carrying a physical ID as “many law enforcement, government agencies, and businesses do not accept the mDL yet.”
The announcement from Newsom last week stated that signing the bill into law advances his office’s core commitment of “making government modernization and efficiency a priority.”
“The bill also authorizes a set of efficiency measures to modernize DMV operations and cut costs, including eliminating certain mailed notices, ending the requirement to print physical driver handbooks, and modernizing how the department communicates with customers about renewals,” the announcement states.
According to the bill’s text, SB 169 is also aimed at preparing the state for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, set to be hosted in Los Angeles, with temporary changes to transportation and traffic protocols to assist in managing the event.
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