Some DMVs will try hours on Saturday
By Steve Herring
Published in News on March 1, 2013 1:46 PM
The N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles on Saturday will roll out expanded hours at a number of driver's license offices across the state, state Transportation Secretary Tony Tata said Thursday during a stopover in Goldsboro.
The new schedule is an effort to improve customer service throughout the department, said Tata, who was the keynote speaker at the Wayne County Chamber of Commerce's Transportation Forum held at the Goldsboro Country Club.
Tata said the change is in response to a directive from Gov. Pat McCrory to be more efficient and to improve customer service.
Saturday hours will start this weekend as selected offices in Greenville, Raleigh and Charlotte.
They will be open from 8 to noon. Tata said that eventually each of those offices will open on Monday and instead of 9 to 5, they will be open from 8 to 6.
"We also are going to take a look at demand load. Do we have a lot of people standing in line at 7:59 to get in? Well, if we do we slide it to 7. If people are showing up at 5:59 then we will slide that to 7. We will figure it out," Tata said
Under the new schedule, most regular driver's license services, including regular road tests, will be offered on Saturday, with the exception of commercial driver's license skills tests, medical re-exams and motorcycle skills tests.
Starting Monday, March 4, these offices will be open for extended hours, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Testing services will be available until 5:30 p.m., but regular road tests will not be administered during rush hour.
More offices will soon join those with expanded hours. Tata said the goal is to have 90 percent of the people in the state within an hour's drive of a DMV office open on Saturday.
A timetable has not yet been announced for the offices in Wayne, Duplin and surrounding counties, or if those offices will be among those with extended hours.