‘Urgent matter.’ Why NCDMV leader says residents must help with driver’s license waits

When Leonard Banks got to the east Charlotte drivers license office at 6 a.m., he thought he’d have no problem getting in.

He read online the office opened at 7 a.m. for appointments and at noon for walk-ins. So, he should’ve been in the clear.

But at 6 a.m, Banks was the 20th person in the walk-in line.

By mid-morning, the line began to snake around the building. Thomas Tran, who was first in line, read his entire state driver handbook in preparation for his permit test. Mercedes Zachary waited near the back of the line, chatting with friends and selling sugar scrubs from her business.

Banks, like others, took off work to go to the Department of Motor Vehicles office. He moved from Texas in May and can only get a license by visiting in person.

“They won’t even look at us until 12 o’clock,” Banks, who couldn’t find any appointments before October, said. “We’ve got elderly people here, we’ve got children here.

For many, it seems like DMV lines and wait times are a well-known frustration. In places across the state, available appointments are months out and walking in is its own adventure. Officials say the state’s population growth and lack of understanding about the DMV’s online services contribute to the issue.

The problem is clear, they told the Observer. The solution may be more difficult.

Available appointments

People interested in scheduling an appointment can visit the DMV’s appointment page, which prompts them to choose an appointment type. These include first-time drivers license, license renewal, license duplicate and road tests.

There were no available appointments Wednesday afternoon at Charlotte area DMVs for residents needing a first-time drivers license. Locations closest to Charlotte with appointments included:

• 200 R T C Drive, Hamlet, with the first available on Oct. 29
  
  

• 2314 S Main St, Lexington, with the first available on Oct. 29

• 50 Commerce St #4, Brevard, with the first available on Oct. 9

There were also no available appointments Wednesday afternoon in Charlotte for residents needing to renew their license. Locations closest to Charlotte with appointments included:

• 200 R T C Drive, Hamlet, with the first available on Oct. 29

• 1650 Liberty Dr Suite 500, Thomasville, with the first available on Oct. 29

• 650 Francis St, High Point, with the first available on Oct. 29

Population growth

NC DMV Commissioner Wayne Goodwin said the cause of monthslong waits for appointments and daylong trips to drivers license offices is North Carolina’s rapid population growth, especially in big cities like Raleigh and Charlotte. This necessitates more examiners and offices, Goodwin said.

NCDMV doesn’t decide its budget, which could include funding for personnel and facility upgrades. Every agency submits funding requests, but they may get shot down because of competing priorities, Goodwin told The Observer. Frustrated with DMV management and wanting to expand oversight, the state Senate Transportation Committee introduced a bill in June requiring Senate confirmation of the DMV commissioner.

“This is clearly an urgent matter because everyone from teenagers through the most mature of our citizens needs an ID of some sort,” Goodwin said.

Zachary, who moved from Detroit and was in line to get her N.C. license, said the DMV should add or allocate staff to walk the line and answer questions.

“Sometimes you just need a small question answered, and you’ll be waiting in line for seven hours and get turned away,” she said.

Banks said the DMV should open additional locations — or at least put some benches out front for walk-ins waiting all day.

Understanding online services

While delays are generally caused by a lack of staffing, fixing long lines is a “two-way street” with residents, Goodwin said. Too many people either don’t know how or don’t want to use the DMV’s online services, he said.

“Every time somebody shows up when they could have gotten that service online, that’s keeping somebody who is required to be in-person from getting the services they need,” he said.

NCDMV offers over a dozen services online, including license duplication, full provisional license upgrades, registration renewal, property tax payments and license and ID renewal.

N.C. drivers licenses must be renewed every eight years, and can be renewed online every other time. Many people don’t remember they can renew their license up to six months before its expiration, so they go in-person at the last minute, rather than set up an appointment in advance, Goodwin said.

The DMV is working to further deploy kiosks, which provide some services outside of typical office hours in three grocery store locations across the state. The Charlotte kiosk can be found at the Harris Teeter in Riverbend Village (4701 Smith Farm Road). At the kiosks, residents can order a duplicate license, register to vote, renew vehicle registration, pay property tax on a new vehicle and change vehicle registration address.

Tique Ball, who waited in line on Wednesday to get a new Social Security card, told The Observer she prefers to use in-person services.

She dislikes online DMV services for the same reason she dislikes making a call and getting an answer from an automated system – it feels like her problem isn’t cared about.

“I would rather just talk to somebody,” she said.

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