The public has spoken, yelled, whined, and complained, and the Texas Department of Public Safety has responded.
Or at least it’s working to respond to the need for a better system of dealing with people who need to renew or obtain their driver’s licenses in a more efficient, less time consuming manner.
The DPS, according to an article in the Houston Chronicle, wants to move away from the first come-first served system that lumps everyone into the same waiting pool to one in which renewals move through an express line, people needing more entailed services make an appointment — can they do that? — and an online feature that shows expected wait times at given offices.
The Public Safety Commission approved the pilot program to start in Austin and then spread to the 50 busiest driver’s license offices in Texas before going statewide, so don’t expect it any time soon.
It seems that if they really want to improve the process and cut down on those wait times — four hours and 45 minutes, in one case mentioned in the article — they could just hire people who freakin’ care.
Bruce Felps owns and operates East Dallas Times, an online community news outlet serving the White Rock Lake area. This new system might be in place when his renewal comes up … in June 2013 … but he’s not counting on it.
