North Texans Report Long Lines at DPS Appointments as Drivers' License Waiver Comes to an End

Time's up for Texans who need to renew their driver licenses and vehicle registrations. 

The waiver on expiration dates for a driver license, an ID card, and registration ends Wednesday at 11:59 p.m. 

Governor Greg Abbott granted the waiver back in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Those who need to renew can make an appointment or go online.

After Wednesday, police can start ticketing motorists operating a vehicle without a current registration sticker or current registration receipt.

If your license or ID card is already expired and your appointment is after today's deadline, you can request a temporary driving permit.

The permit will be valid until your appointment date.

According to officials, there were about 858,000 expired driver licenses in their system at the start of this month.        

Roughly 130,000 could be renewed online, officials said.

If you are not eligible, or you wait until after today, you will have to make an appointment in person.

One woman, Sibyl Gelman, told NBC 5 it took her weeks to find an open spot, but she was finally able to get her new license after waiting in a long line for two and a half hours.

"We should be able to figure this out by now," Gelman said. "We can streamline vaccinations for the entire country. Surely, we can get the DMV moving a lot more quickly."

DPS officials told NBC 5 that many offices are expanding their hours to handle the long lines.

One of the biggest issues DPS offices will face is people not showing up for appointments, officials said.

According to officials, during December, more than 30% of people were no shows.

Those who are trying to get in to renew their license or ID should check with their closest office to see if there is an opening as offices do offer a limited number of same-day appointments on a first come, first served basis.

The Texas DMV's pandemic waiver pertaining to vehicle title and registrations also ends Wednesday.

Those who were banking on that waiver to buy them more time should be prepared to pay for overdue transactions.