Motorists and others in line at the Pearlridge Satellite City Hall may watch television or even get some Christmas shopping done while waiting their turn under the new Aloha Q initiative.

Anyone seeking a motor vehicle registration or parking permit for persons with disabilities at Pearlridge can now present an identification card and the proper documents and be issued a "Q.I.D." number, short for "queue identification," city officials said Tuesday.

Instead of standing in line, people can take a seat in the waiting area and watch TV while keeping an eye on a separate monitor that displays the estimated wait times. Anyone expecting a wait of longer than 15 minutes can submit acellphone number and be issued a text message when it’s time to return to the waiting area.

Mayor Kirk Caldwell said creating a "virtual line," which began operating Friday, is part of the effort to make doing business at the satellite city hall more pleasant. New hires and procedures are helping to reduce waiting periods, which climbed to several hours earlier in the year after the city got stuck with the responsibility of processing state identification cards.

"For so many people, this is the one and only time they touch the city government," Caldwell said. "We want to make it a better experience than it has been in the past."

Dino Acidera, general manager of ABC Auto Center, a used car dealership in Waipahu, applauded the opportunity to sit and get some paperwork done as he waited to process ownership transfers on two vehicles.

Because there is a limit of two vehicle transfer transactions a day at each satellite city hall, Acidera makes frequent visits to the Pearlridge, City Square and Kapolei locations.

"It’s good that they try this," he said.

With an estimated 700 transactions a day, the Pearlridge site is the busiest satellite city hall.

Mark Wong, city information technology director, said city employees developed the Aloha Q system. The only cost to the city was $800 to purchase two monitors.