Wait times growing for driver’s license renewals

Many frustrated drivers, who waited too long before renewing their driver’s licenses, are facing snaking lines and waits of several hours at satellite city halls.

On Friday at least 34 people were lined up outside of the Hawaii Kai Satellite City Hall by 7:20 a.m., with the first in line showing up at 4:45 a.m.

Some came prepared for the wait with lawn chairs, while others milled about or talked story on the limited bench seating.

The city has an online system that allows people to book driver’s license renewal appointments in advance at satellite city halls or driver licensing centers. It works well if used months before the license’s expiration date. But when a driver’s license is about to expire in a few weeks, their only shot may be to get up early and wait in line.

At most satellite city hall locations, it’s difficult to book an appointment within the next few weeks. The earliest available appointments are often a month away.

A check on Friday showed several locations had no appointments available at all. Others only had appointments starting in August.

If you can’t book an appointment, you have to wait in line. And the wait times are likely to get longer in the coming months as more licenses come up for renewal.

In 2017, 2,000 to 4,000 driver’s licenses expired each month during the summer. This year 12,000 driver’s licenses will expire in July. The peak expiration dates are during September and October when 13,000 driver’s licenses are set to expire.

This is because the state changed the validity of driver’s licenses from six years to eight years in 2010. Some licenses obtained before and during 2010 expire at the same time in 2018, creating an overload of renewals.

Sheri Kajiwara, director of customer services at the City and County of Honolulu, said June and July are historically busy months for driver’s license renewals because of summer vacation, but said it’s particularly bad this year. “The highest point I’ve seen it,” she said.

In response to the impending influx, the city created the online appointment system in March, allowing people to book appointments up to 45 days in advance. Kajiwara said the online appointment system has worked well to alleviate some of the pressure on the system.

The satellite city hall website has a “Helpful Hints” page which advises people who didn’t make an online reservation to “avoid Mondays and Fridays, avoid the hours between 11:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., avoid the first and last day of the month, and avoid the day after holidays,” among other tips.

Despite booking in advance, Kajiwara said there is a 30 percent no-show rate. On June 30, 109 people did not show up for their appointments, she said.

“Check the site often because people cancel,” said Kajiwara.

The city has also opened the Kapolei, Koolau, Kapalama and Wahiawa Driver Licensing Centers for half-days on Saturday from March until August, and has cut appointment times to 10 minutes from 15 to allow more appointments a day, she said.

Kajiwara said the Hawaii Kai Satellite City Hall completes about 50 transactions a day and has two windows committed to driver’s license affairs. She said driver licensing centers such as Kapalama or Kapolei complete about 200 appointments a day and generally have more availability.

“We’re trying to find things to make this better,” said Kajiwara.

The city allows drivers to renew their licenses up to six months before expiration and still keep their birthday expiration date.

Kea Chung and his wife, Ok Chung, were first in line at the Hawaii Kai office Friday, after arriving too late Thursday.

“We got here at 4:45 a.m.,” said Kea Chung. “We wanted to make sure we get it today.”

Friday marked Ruta Summers’ third attempt at renewing her driver’s license, after waiting in vain on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Summers complained that the satellite city hall workers have many other jobs and can’t always get to the driver’s license renewals quickly.

“We’re the last priority,” said Summers, who arrived at 6:30 a.m. Friday.

Like others waiting in line, James Digiambattista said his license was set to expire before the first available online booking.

Digiambattista, who was eighth in line, said that he hoped to be done by noon.

“The city’s not providing an adequate level of serv­ice,” he said. “They should be held accountable.”