Avoid lost time by planning ahead for license renewals

City officials are urging the thousands of Oahu motorists who need to renew their driver’s licenses this year to plan ahead to know what documents they need to bring to the Driver Licensing Office to help speed up the process.

Even then they might want to take along a newspaper, book or electronic tablet because they could spend an hour or more in line as the city tries to tackle an estimated tripling in the number of people needing renewals this year.

Projections show renewals are expected to jump to an estimated 9,000 a month islandwide in 2018, up from what has been an average of 3,000 a month, city officials said. The city is estimating what used to be a 15-minute transaction time is now an hour long, although some people at Kapolei Hale on Thursday told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser they spent closer to two hours or more in line.

There’s a confluence of issues that are leading to the delays.

A state law change that took effect in 2010 makes a majority of Hawaii driver’s licenses good for eight years, up from six. That two-year extension has caused a jump in the number of motorists with licenses that are expiring and in need of a renewal this year and next.

Additionally, increased federal identity requirements for what’s needed to get or renew a license have taken effect in the last five years. That’s causing more people to show up at driver licensing offices with a lot more questions, slowing down the process.

Also adding to the long lines is a misinterpretation by some Oahu residents of the new federal REAL ID Act, which takes effect this year. While the law requires that driver’s licenses and state IDs carry a uniform “gold star” design mark, the hard deadline for having one is Oct. 1, 2020. So there’s no need for people to prematurely get a new driver’s license or ID card until then, state Department of Transportation officials said.

Pearl City resident Fayza Wiggins and husband Don took 2-1/2 hours Thursday afternoon to get her license renewed even though he had gone to the Driver Licensing Office in the morning to gather intel on documents they needed.

“Make sure you get the correct documents,” Don Wiggins said.

To help those showing up for licenses and state ID cards know what documents they’re supposed to have, the Department of Customer Services has set up a table at the front of the driver’s licensing branch at Kapalama Hale, the busiest of the places motorists go for renewal, as well as the other licensing offices on an as-needed basis, Customer Services Director Sheri Kajiwara said.

The city also has two links online that can help people figure out what documents to take — a two-page checklist at honolulu.gov/rep/site/csd/onlineforms/csldl248.pdf and an interactive guide at honolulu.gov/license.

But even then the document gathering can get complicated, especially if your life is not that simple.

East Honolulu resident Karen Huang was in line with her son, David, waiting to get his permit renewed. She lamented the document maze she had to move through, caused in part because some of her family’s documents are under her name and others under her husband’s, while some documents are sent to their home address and others to their P.O. box. “There are a lot of forms,” she said. “You really have to do your homework.”

David Huang has received renewal permits before, but he recently turned 18, which requires stricter proof of residency, Karen Huang said.

Like the Wigginses, Huang went to Kapalama Hale in advance to get answers. She tried calling five different licensing offices but couldn’t get anyone to answer.

Motorists can bypass the wait in lines by booking an appointment up to 10 days in advance via the city’s AlohaQ service. The public can access AlohaQ online at alohaq.honolulu.gov/?0. Motorists can also use the AlohaQ kiosks at Kapalama Hale and other licensing offices.

The Kapalama Hale driver’s licensing center in October added Saturday hours for renewals only to help deal with the increase but ended that policy at the end of December due to low numbers.

Kajiwara said the city is looking at other ways to ease the lines, including the possibility of opening earlier than 8 or later than 4. To do so and not run afoul of union contracts, however, workers would need to volunteer.

Kajiwara advises motorists to go to the offices after 2 p.m., when it’s less busy and more windows are open, and avoid going during the busiest days at the beginning or end of the month. And go far in advance of your license’s expiration date, she said.

While motorists can’t renew licenses online, they can conduct other transactions with the city from their own computers, such as obtaining duplicate licenses or instruction permits, as well as paying their utility bills.

To learn more about driver’s licenses and state IDs, go to the Department of Customer Services website at honolulu.gov/csd.