DPS tries to cut license wait times

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Depending on which location you go to and what time it is, customers say it can take anywhere from 15 minutes to four hours to get in and out of the Texas driver's license offices.

Wednesday, Jason Stamm said he only waited about 20 minutes to get a new license at the office on South Congress Avenue at 10 a.m.

"It wasn't too bad today," said Stamm. "It was pretty light in there."

Things weren't going as well at the North Lamar Boulevard location at 2:30 p.m. Greg Liwen needed a new license after his wallet was stolen. He waited in line 15 minutes just to check in and get a number, only to find out he needed a form of identification.

"I have a passport at home so hopefully I can find it within a couple of minutes and come back," said Liwen. "I'm a little frustrated. I gave up half a day's work to come here and take care of this, and I don't even know if I'll be able to get it done by 5 o'clock today."

The clerk told Liwen there would likely be a two-hour wait when he came back. Changes are on the way to get customers like him moving through the line much faster.

At a time when most state departments had to cut their spending drastically, state lawmakers approved a 40 percent increase in funding for the driver's license program . The Texas Department of Public Safety received an extra $63 million to hire 360 more employees, pay higher wages and equip employees with new and faster technology at existing centers.

"Anything that speeds up the process would help out," said Stamm.

The state also plans on using the rest of the money to rent six buildings to serve as megacenters where customers can get in and out quickly. Two are planned in Houston and two are expected to open in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The state said they will also open one in San Antonio and one in Austin where customers can go to get fast service.

DPS said the goal is to get the megacenters up and running by September 2012.