Just three months ago NBC 5 Investigates uncovered just how understaffed DPS driver license centers are. That was causing long waits even just to get an appointment. NBC 5’s Vince Sims takes a closer look at a plan by DPS to move to virtual appointments.
When visiting a Department of Public Safety Driver’s License Center Friday, it was easy to find people upset with the current process.
“It took me about six months to get an appointment to get in here, and the wait time was over two hours,” customer Russell Hossin said.
“The appointment they tried to give me is for (20)25,” customer Mamie Etsa said.
“I live over in Dallas County, but actually, it was three months out to get an appointment over there, so I came to Fort Worth because it was about a month out,” customer Mark Brendstrup said.
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NBC 5 discovered that at least 45 DPS offices had an average wait for an appointment of more than 30 days.
Staffing shortages and low salaries are partly to blame. That's why DPS is considering a virtual appointment system that would allow staff to work remotely through a computer, which could attract more employees.
People dealing with the delays welcome the idea.
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“Because you are online and it’s just a faster process,” customer Tina Sample said. “It’s just like your virtual doctor’s appointments. They're faster.”
“You should be able to do almost anything at home now,” Brendstrup said. “It seems like it would make a lot more sense and probably be a lot more cost-effective, I would think, for the state if they could do something like that.”
According to The Dallas Morning News, this would come at a cost of $22 million over the next five years.
“It’s 2024 and we’ve got better ways of doing things,” Hossin said.
If money is granted it could take at least two years to get the technology implemented. They are expected to ask for that funding in January.
