The Division of Motor Vehicles is using interns to help manage long lines at driver's license offices.
New DMV Commissioner Paul Tine told the State Board of Transportation this week that one of the agency's challenges is that if you show up without the documents you need, you might not realize it until you've been in line for hours. Then you'll have to come back another day and start the process all over again.
DMV wants to put people at office entrances to help check documents and paperwork, a process referred to as "triage," but in many locations it doesn't have enough staff.
Now, it's using interns from across the N.C. Department of Transportation to help with the document checks when people arrive. Tine says volunteers from other parts of the agency are helping too.
"These people are the ones checking to make sure you have the right documentation for REAL ID, for example, so that you can have a completed transaction," Tine said. "We ended up with 13 interns and 28 volunteers supplementing that work out in the field. The results from that were definitely faster transaction times."
More than 100 DMV offices also now offer a text-message check-in system that lets people get notified when their turn has arrived, rather than standing in line.
DMV is also changing how it balances appointments with walk-in customers. Until recently, people lined up for walk-in transactions in the morning at the same time appointments were scheduled, so "we were set up for failure," Tine said.
Now the walk-in customers can check in and determine if the office has capacity to serve them. "We're meeting capacity at 10 or 11 (a.m.), and so if they show up at noon ... there's a sign that says that 'we're full.' And unfortunately, that is so much better than where we were before, because they had to wait in line until 5 (p.m.) to find out that we weren't going to serve them."
Tine's report to the State Board of Transportation came days after State Auditor Dave Boliek released a scathing audit of the agency's performance.
Boliek called for the DMV to be separated from the Department of Transportation, but Tine argued to the transportation board that the change would exacerbate DMV's problems.
"We just moved License and Theft out (to the State Highway Patrol), and it's been taking a significant amount of my time, and there are still problems ongoing in regards to that transition," Tine said. "I hope that the broader discussion doesn't occur right now, because practically, it would be just completely detrimental to the organization and the goals of what everyone wants, which is better service for our customers."
