Dallas County resident Robert Crawford knew his license would expire this May, so he wanted to plan ahead. He tried to book an appointment in January or February to get it renewed.
But he said he ended up waiting months for an appointment at a Department of Public Safety driver’s license office.
“By the time my appointment arrived, my driver’s license had been expired over 2 months,” Crawford said.
Many North Texans say they’ve had a similar experience waiting months to get an appointment. Average booking times can range from 40 to 180 days, according to DPS. But the department has a novel idea to help curb those long waits: virtual appointments.
The department is asking the Texas Legislature to invest $22 million over the next five years in a system that would allow the roughly 40% of Texans needing routine services like renewals and replacements to make a virtual appointment.
It would work like this: An eligible customer who chooses an online appointment would fill out their paperwork and upload documents ahead of time. During their appointment, a DPS employee would review everything with the customer, take their photo if needed, and process their application.
Hopeful non-commercial drivers could even take their road test virtually. With road- and driver-facing cameras and the help of a passenger acting as a proctor, DPS employees could assess driving skills without being in the car.
“There’s a lot of benefits to that,” Driver’s License Division chief Sheri Gipson said.
Staffing shortages mean big delays
Virtual appointments would help address staffing issues, for one. Staffing shortages are worst in major metropolitan areas like Dallas, Gipson said, where there are more high-paying and remote jobs. Starting salaries for entry-level licensed permit specialists are as low as $21,155, though the starting average is around $39,000, Gipson said.
Staffing shortages reduce office capacities and drive up booking times at large offices. Some Dallas-Fort Worth residents told The Dallas Morning News they have traveled as far as Paris or Bonham for an appointment.
“The metro areas are hardest for us,” Gipson said.
But virtual appointments would allow a license specialist from any office to serve someone no matter their location, providing a stopgap to areas with lower staffing levels. DPS’ requests to the legislature include funding for more staff, Gipson said, but it’s less than would be needed for more brick-and-mortar offices. DPS is requesting a separate $20 million to increase salaries for non-commissioned staff across the agency.
Robust web services would mean more convenience for customers, too, who could have online application and documents reviewed in advance even if they need an in-person appointment to prevent multiple trips. Some driver’s license renewals can already be done online, but only if the previous renewal was in person.
And some customers run into issues accessing online services. Tarrant County resident Lindee Greer said she’s been unable to change her address online after moving because she keeps getting an error message and hasn’t been able to reach staff via email. The first appointment she can get is in February, according to the web booking system.
The delay means she can’t vote in her new district in November.
“I still own the property in Ellis County so I plan on just voting in that precinct,” Greer said. “However, had that property ownership changed more quickly according to our original plan, I would likely not be able to vote at all.”
There isn’t another state that currently runs the type of program DPS is envisioning, Gipson said. Some allow pre-review of uploaded documents, but they still require people to come into offices for appointments.
It’s not just staffing that has made for long waits. Demand for driver’s license services is on the rise as Texas’ population expands. DPS is expected to mail more driver licenses and ID cards in 2025 than in the previous four years and maintains a list of driver records that grows every year.
“One thing that we fully recognize is with the growth of the state, obviously we’re falling behind in our ability to provide services because of the volume of individuals,” Gipson said.
Tech could be the solution, DPS says
That’s where DPS is betting on technology to improve outcomes. Only about 11% of calls made to DPS were answered in 2023, which Gipson said comes down to staffing shortages. About 81 full-time employees handle as many as 30,000 calls per day. But staff hope a project launching this month to add in chat capabilities and integrate the call system with driver records for more personalized automated help will increase the answer rate to 50 to 60%.
Another $2.5 million would fund additional call center technology improvements.
DPS also has a 27-30% no-show rate for appointments which they hope to tackle with a new system that will give customers additional reminders and allow them to cancel without having to log in to the website.
It’s up to legislators whether they will fund an experimental solution like virtual appointments to tackle wait times, but the $22 million price tag — which includes $14 million in startup costs — isn’t an outsized ask for Drivers License Services. The state allocated $246,063,968 to the division in 2023, an increase of $26,658,697 from fiscal year 2022.
“I don’t think the investments have been able to keep up completely, but I’m grateful for the investments that have been made because every one they make in us allows us to become a little bit better,” Gipson said.
If a virtual appointment system is funded, customers won’t see a difference right away. It would take 18 to 24 months to develop and implement a virtual appointment system, and another two years to get full customer buy-in. Less than 40% of customers eligible for online appointments currently use them, but that number has increased from about 25% with automated customer prompts.
“For us, it’s an educational thing,” Gipson said.
The Legislative Budget Board will submit budget recommendations to lawmakers in January.
