SEARCHING
SEARCHING FOR SOLUTIONS -- TO A PROBLEM CAUSING HUGE HEADACHES FOR PEOPLE ACROSS THE STATE.
WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE LONG
LINES TO GET A DRIVER'S LICENSE.
EARLIER THIS YEAR, PEOPLE HAD
TO STAND OUTSIDE THIS D-P-S
OFFICE IN HOUSTON. DPS SAYS
THE SOLUTION IS TO SPEND CLOSE
TO HALF A BILLION DOLLARS, AND
HIRE HUNDREDS OF NEW WORKERS. WE
SPENT THE PAST MONTH CHECKING
OUT LOCATIONS ACROSS SOUTHEAST
TEXAS. JORDAN WILLIAMS
INVESTIGATES HOW THINGS GOT SO
BAD.
:01-:17 37-41 51-56 122-127
154-200 247-254 326-340 341-414
415-433 433-503
WE'VE MET PEOPLE WHO HAVE SPENT
HOURS WAITING AT DPS LOCATIONS
IN BEAUMONT, PORT ARTHUR AND
ORANGE. THINGS HAVE GOTTEN
SO BAD --- PEOPLE ARE TRYING THE
SMALLER OFFICES IN WALLISVILLE,
JASPER, AND EVEN WOODVILLE.
WHEN YOU HEAR WHAT THE STATE
TOLD US -- YOU MAY FEEL LIKE
YOU'RE GETTING A "LICENSE TO
WAIT." TAKE ONE LOOK AROUND
THE DPS DRIVER'S LICENSE OFFICE
IN BEAUMONT -- AND YOU'LL SEE
FACES OF FRUSTRATION.
DAVID: AND THIS JUST IS INSANE
THE WAY THIS SYSTEM IS SET UP,
WITH THE TECHNOLOGY WE HAVE
MINUTES TURN TO HOURS...
ANXIETY TURNS TO ANGER... AS
LINES LENGTHEN.... AND PEOPLE
LIKE DAVID MARTIN WAIT FOR THEIR
NUMBERS TO BE CALLED.
DAVID: IT IS VERY BROKEN AND
THERE'S 50 PEOPLE HERE WAITING.
PLUS THE PEOPLE THAT HAVE
ALREADY MADE RESERVATIONS. IT'S
INCREDIBLY STUPID. HE SPENT
HIS "DAY OFF" TRYING TO RENEW
HIS LICENSE.
DAVID: I DON'T KNOW. WHAT DO YOU
DO? WHAT DO YOU DO?
SHEILA: IT IS INSANE. THERE HAS
GOT TO BE A BETTER WAY TO DO
THIS. GOT TO BE. THERE'S GOT TO
BE. WE MET SHEILA WOODS
WAITING WITH HER TEENAGE
DAUGHTER.
SHEILA: SHE JUST TURNED 15 ON
TUESDAY, SO THIS IS TO GET HER
LEARNERS PERMIT. SHE'S DONE ALL
OF HER PAPERWORK TO GET ON THE
ROAD, AND IT'S NOT GOING TO
HAPPEN TODAY. WAIT TIMES IN
BEAUMONT APPEAR TO BE AVERAGING
AT LEAST FIVE HOURS. THINK IT'S
ANY BETTER IN PORT ARTHUR?
JESICA: THERE'S PROBABLY ABOUT
50-55 PEOPLE IN THERE RIGHT NOW
THIS OFFICE IS ONLY OPEN
TUESDAYS AND THURSDAYS. THE WAIT
TIME HERE SEEMS TO BE FIVE OR
SIX HOURS. MAYBE MORE.
JORDAN: HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE
WORKING IN HERE? 3? JESICA: 3
WITH A WAIT OF 50 PEOPLE
JESICA ALDOUS THINKS TEXAS IS
FAILING DRIVERS.
THEY NEED MORE OFFICES. THEY
NEED TO EMPLOY MORE PEOPLE. THE
DAY WE MET HER SHE WAS ON HER
THIRD TRY.
JESICA THE FIRST TIME I CAME I
WAS AT THE BEAUMONT ONE. AND I
WAITED OUTSIDE. I GOT THERE
ABOUT 6:30 IN THE MORNING. AND I
WAITED FOR ABOUT AN HOUR, AND
THEN IT STARTED RRINING, SO
EVERYONE STARTED LEAVING BECAUSE
THE DOORS WEREN'T OPEN.
AND WHEN DID YOU START THIS
PROCESS? JUNE 18TH. SO YOU WILL
STAND HERE AND TELL ME YOUR
LICENSE HAS BEEN EXPIRED? WELL
DON'T GIVE ME A TICKET. MY MOM
WILL BE MAD! SHE HOPES
POLICE GIVE HER A BREAK --
BECAUSE SHE FEELS LIKE SHE'S
MADE A REAL EFFORT TO RENEW.
I TRIED TO DO MINE ONLINE. BUT I
DID MINE LAST TIME, SO YOU HAVE
TO COME IN AND DO IT THIS TIME.
IT'S CRAZY! YOU SIT HERE. YOU
CAN'T PLAN ANYTHING..IF YOU COME
TO THE DMV 'CUZ IT'S GONNA TAKE
YOU ALL DAY!
YEAH RIGHT NOW I'M G14.
JORDAN: AT LEAST THEY HAVE A
PICNIC TABLE FOR YOU! DONNIE:
YEAH, A LOT OF FOLKS COME OUT
HERE AND FILL OUT THEIR
PAPERWORK! DONNIE CARBAUGH
SAYS THIS IS HIS FOURTH TIME AT
THE PORT RTHUR DPS OFFICE.
23.37.43 WHAT DO YOU FEEL LIKE
IS GOING ON? BUBBA I DON'T KNOW.
I REALLY DON'T KNOW. IT'S NEVER
BEEN LIKE THIS. I'M 80 YEARS OLD
AND I'VE GOTTEN LICENSES
RENEWED, AND I'VE NEVER SEEN
THIS! 23.38.00 THEY SAID WELL GO
TO LIBERTY. GO TO THE LIBERTY.
IT'S THE SAME THING. GO TO
ORANGE. THEY WON'T EVEN LET YOU
IN THE DOOR IN THE ORANGE!
12NEWS FILED AN OPEN RECORDS
REQUEST WITH DPS -- ASKING FOR
AVERAGE WAIT TIMES IN SOUTHEAST
TEXAS. THE RESPONSE LEFT US
SHAKING OUR HEADS. A DPS LAWYER
EMAILED US SAYING -- "I FORGOT
TO MENTION THAT THE DEPARTMENT
DOES NOT HAVE WAIT TIME
INFORMATION FOR THOSE PARTICULAR
OFFICES." 23.57.10 IT'S JUST
ABSOLUTELY MISERABLE. AND THIS
IS NOT WHAT THE PEOPLE OF TEXAS
DESERVE. WE TOLD STATE
REPRESENTATIVE JAMES WHITE WHAT
WE'VE SEEN AT DRIVER'S LICENSE
OFFICES AROUND SOUTHEAST TEXAS.
10.29 JORDAN: ARE THOSE WAIT
TIMES ACCEPTABLE? WHITE:
ABSOLUTELY NOT. THEY'RE NOT
ACCEPTABLE. 23.57.29 THERE IS NO
EXCUSE. HE POINTS TO FOUR KEY
ISSUES. THE STATE'S DRAMATIC
POPULATION GROWTH.... MORE
PEOPLE NEEDING PHOTO ID'S
BECAUSE OF THE REAL ID ACT...
OUTDATED TECHNOLOGY IN
OFFICES... AND LOW WORKER
SALARIES. 8.46 STARTING PAY FOR
A LOT OF CUSTOMER SERVICE REPS
IS AROUND 26K.. AND THAT'S
STARTING OUU, SO WE NEED TO GET
THAT UP TO ATTRACT MORE
PEOPLE, BUT MORE QUALITY FOLKS.
DPS HAS ASKED THE STATE
LEGISLATURE FOR AN EXTRA $420
MILLION -- ON TOP OF ITS REGULAR
BUDGET. IT WOULD BUMP UP THOSE
LOW STARTING SALARIES... FROM
26,000 TO 35,000. THE PLAN
WOULD ALSO PAY TO HIRE NEARLY A
THOUSAND NEW CUSTOMER SERVICE
REPS. 11.24 IT'S MORE THAN JUST
HIRING MORE PEOPLE. AND HAVING
BIGGER OFFICES. IT'S ABOUT ALSO
GRASPING THE 21ST CENTURY
TECHNOLOGIES THAT OUR TODDLERS
AND TEENS ARE MASTERING THESE
DAYS. WE REALLY WANTED TO BE
ABLE TO TELL YOU WHICH LOCATION
HAS THE
HAS THE
SHORTEST
SHORTEST LINES. LIKE WE TOLD YOU A MINUTE AGO, DPS ADMITS IT DOESN'T TRACK WAIT TIMES IN
SOUTHEAST TEXAS. WE FILED A
SEPARATE PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST
-- TO GET DATA -- SHOWING HOW
MANY LICENSES ARE ISSUED AT EACH
LOCATION. YOU CAN GO TO
12NEWSNOW.COM TO SEE THE MONTHLY
BREAKDOWN --- IN THE LAST YEAR
-- BEAUMONT AVERAGED 3200
LICENSES A MONTH. IT'S BY FAR
THE BUSIEST. NEXT UP II ORANGE
-- ISSUING ROUGHLY 1900 A MONTH.
THE LIBERTY LOCATION IS NEXT AT
ABOUT 1500. THE LEAST
CROWDED SPOT -- WOODVILLE.
WHICH HAPPENS TO BE RIGHT
OUTSIDE REP. WHITE'S TYLER
COUNTY OFFICE! NATS --- NATS
25.28 LET ME JUST SHOW YOU THE
OFFICE OVER HERE. WALKING 25.43
HOW YOUD DOING? SO HERE'S OUR
DEAL HERE. THE WAIT TIME
HERE? ONLY A FEW MINUTES.
NATS - THESE ARE GREAT PEOPLE
THAT WORK HERE. REPRESENTATIVE
WHITE CREDITS A PILOT PROGRAM
TYLER COUNTY STARTED 5 YEARS
AGO.
SMALLER COUNTIES IDENTIFY
SOMEONE TO WORK AS A DRIVER'S
LICENSE REGISTRAR OR DEPUTY. DPS
TRAINS THEM AND PROVIDES
EQUIPMENT, BUT THE COUNTY PAYS
THE SALARY. 15.13 THIS PUBLIC
SERVANT HIRED BY THE COUNTY. BUT
TRAINED BY DPS.. EQUIPPED B DPS,
THEY WOULD DO SOME OF THE MORE
BASIC TRANSACTIONS. BECAUSE WHAT
WE'RE FINDING IS AT LEAST 75% OF
THE TRANSACTIONS ARE THE BASIC
ONES. HE THINKS A STATE
EXPANSION -- COULD EASE THE LONG
LINES. 2SHOT 25.00 ALL OF THE
DATA I'M GETTING CORRESPONDS
WITH THE CONSTITUENT FEEDBACK
AND DISGUST. SO YOU DON'T NEED
ANY MORE DATA? I DON'T NEED ANY
ANALYTICS OR DATA.. 2SHOT 25.18
WE KNOW WHAT WE NEED TO DO NEXT
SESSION. AND WE JUST NEED TO GET
AFTER IT. BACK IN LINE -- IN
BEAUMONT AND PORT ARTHUR-- ALL
OF THAT TALK -- DOESN'T DO MUCH
TO EASE FRUSTRATION. 23.37.35
DONNIE I'M RETIRED! BUT I SEE
PEOPLE IN THERE THAT HAVE TO
WORK! GOD LOVE THEM! THEY GO
YOUNG UNS! 2SHOT 23.31.43 JORDAN
DO YOU THINK THEY ULTIMATELY
NEED MORE OFFICEE OR JUST MORE
TAFF? JESICA THEY CAN'T FIT
ENOUGH PEOPLE IN THERE. THEY
NEED MORE OFFICES. 14.23 BUT
THIS IS INSANE TO HAVE TO BE IN
LINE FOR HOURS AND HOURS AND
HOURS TO GET SOMETHING THAT THE
STATE REQUIRES YOU TO HAVE! LONG
LINES OF DISAPPOINTED DRIVERS
-- LEFT WITH ONLY A LICENSE TO
WAIT.
AS PART OF THE NEARLY
HALF-BILLION
HALF-BILLION
DOLLAR
DOLLAR FUNDING BOOST -- THE DPS ALSO WANTS TO CREATE 15 NEW OFFICES IN THE FASTEST GROWING
AREAS. SOME OF YOU MAY
REMEMBER, AT ONE POINT THE STATE
WAS CONSIDERING CLOSING SOME OF
THE RURAL OFFICES. THAT
PROPOSAL APPEARS TO BE DEAD.
SO WHAT'S THE STATE SAYING
ABOUT
ABOUT THESE WAIT TIMES? THAT PEOPLE SHOULD BE ABLE TO DO A LOT OF THIS ONLINE. DPS
CLAIMS A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO ARE
WAITING IN LINE SHOULDN'T BE. I
HAVE TO POINT OUT, EVERYONE I
TALKED TO, HAD TO BE THERE.