The department announced a shorter waiting period to book appointments, shortening appointment bookings from three months to just a week in advance.
NC DMV Communications Director Marty Homan said the move allows for appointments to be seen throughout the entire day and shortens the wait time for walk-in customers, who make up more than 85% of DMV customers.
"If someone was coming in as a walk-in, we were basically guaranteeing them a long wait by doing it," he said. "So now we've sort of staggered them throughout the day. We're serving both walk-ins and appointments throughout the day."
Homan says the average wait time at DMVs across the state has fallen to 45 minutes.
Drivers in Raleigh said it was a smooth ride at the DMV office off Avent Ferry Road on Wednesday.
Sarah Alexander said she made an appointment last week to get a Real ID.
"I just, I came in about 15 minutes prior to my appointment time, probably, and went right up to the desk, and they checked all the documents, and I sat down for maybe two minutes, and then I was called up," she said.
Grady McKey brought his grandson to get his license, and says he was pleasantly surprised to see no line around the building.
"I was looking for the line way back there, but when we got here. Well, nobody (was) here. He just walked out (the car) and walked in," said McKey. "I'm glad now that I don't see no line out when I go to the motor vehicle department."
The change for appointment bookings also comes as pandemic-era funding for the department has run dry. A $3 million grant from 2021 helped chip away at the customer backlog caused by the pandemic.
"Ninety-two of our 113 offices were opening at 7 a.m., so those hours will stop at the end of this week," said Homan. "Everybody will go back to 8 a.m. We also used it to expand our Saturday hours."
A quick look at the booking website for the DMV shows very limited availability for appointments right now, with only a handful of offices offering appointments in a week.
DMV officials say that could change once demand slows down and wait times keep getting shorter.
"Things are getting better, but we're not taking a victory lap," said Homan. "We know we have a lot of work ahead of us."
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