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North Carolina DMV Looking To Better Measure Office Wait Times

KERI BROWN/WFDD

North Carolina's Division of Motor Vehicles doesn't really know how long you've waited in line for service, but that should soon change.

When you go the DMV, the clock doesn't start running until you've received a number and taken a seat. But what about the time spent waiting for a ticket?

That wait time is an important measure of how well the DMV is doing at moving people through the system.

NC DMV Commissioner Torre Jessup says the department is working on a system that more accurately captures how much time customers spend at an office. One solution being considered is virtual ticketing that allows people to check in at a DMV office before arriving.

The News & Observer reports that wait times spiked this summer as more people lined up to obtain a REAL ID, a type of driver's license that satisfies federal ID requirements starting in October 2020.

Jessup admitted to the state Board of Transportation on Wednesday that the current system for gauging wait times is inaccurate, and that his department is working on improving its queuing system.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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