NC governor: I know DMV is broken. We’re going to do something about it.
Gov. Josh Stein visited a Division of Motor Vehicles office in Raleigh on Friday to acknowledge that he understands the agency has big problems and to pledge that his administration will fix them.
Stein was joined by Joey Hopkins, the secretary of Transportation, and Paul Tine, whom Stein appointed DMV commissioner this spring. Tine and Hopkins echoed the governor’s admission that the DMV is largely failing the people of North Carolina and promised that improvements are on the way.
Stein said his last trip to the DMV was two years ago when his daughter got her license. To get an appointment, they had to go to Henderson, an hour north of Raleigh, and it was the last one of the day.
“Look, I know that this is a real challenge that parents deal with. It’s a real challenge that any driving adult deals with,” he said. “We have got to do better, and we commit to doing better.”
The DMV has been plagued by long lines and wait times at driver’s license offices in recent years. People hoping to avoid those by making an appointment find there are often none available.
Stein says a big source of the problems is that the DMV doesn’t have enough employees. While North Carolina’s population has grown by about 2.6 million since 2003, or about 31%, the DMV has been authorized to open only three new driver’s license offices during that time and hire no additional driver’s license examiners.
The East Raleigh office Stein visited Friday has 15 computer stations for driver’s license examiners but only seven examiners. The DMV is experimenting with seeing all customers at the office on a walk-in basis — no appointments — and customers are waiting an average of 3 1/2 hours, said Tanika Williams, the senior examiner at the office.
Stein highlighted those numbers at the press conference.
“That cuts in half the number of people that could be served from this place, because we simply do not have enough employees,” he said.
Stein’s budget proposal to lawmakers included the agency’s request for 61 additional license examiners to fill vacancies at East Raleigh and other offices and 24 more to open two new offices and expand a third. The House version of the budget, approved earlier this month, includes those 85 new positions, but the Senate version does not.
Tine said he’s hopeful that will change.
“The Senate has signaled to us that they’d like to support us as well,” he said.
DMV aims to improve customer service
Tine outlined some of the early changes the DMV has made, including new features on the agency’s website to guide people through transactions they can do online and to help them determine if and when they need to get a REAL ID. He said back-office staff and NCDOT’s interns will help greet customers at driver’s license offices during the busy summer season and make sure people are in the right place and have the documents they need.
Long-term, Tine said, the DMV will upgrade its outdated computer systems and other equipment and create a more “customer-focused culture.”
“I want us to become a premier customer service organization,” he said. “Not just a great DMV.”
When Stein, Tine and Hopkins arrived at the DMV office, the waiting room was full and more than 35 people were lined up on the sidewalk outside. The three men spent about 15 minutes walking down the line.
“What are you working on today?” Stein asked each person he greeted.
Williams, the lead examiner, was at Stein’s side, answering questions from customers and explaining to him how things work.
Hours standing outside a DMV office
At the press conference that followed, Stein, Tine and Hopkins were joined by Jocelyn Wright of Durham, who spoke about two trips she made to the DMV as her teenage daughter got her provisional licenses.
It took months to get the first appointment, and it was at an office an hour and a half drive away. The second time, Wright and her daughter drove to Henderson as walk-in customers, arriving before noon and joining the line outside.
Then it started to rain. As the hours passed, Wright said it looked as if they wouldn’t make it inside before closing time.
“I pleaded. I begged. And I let the DMV worker know that I drove an hour just to make sure that my daughter could get her license and if she would please, please, please let us wait inside the building instead of standing outside in the rain,” she said. “She accommodated me and allowed us to come in, and we were the last people that she served that day.”
Stories like that are common, said Hopkins, the transportation secretary.
“That’s the reason we’re here,” he said. “That’s just one of many that we hear every day.”
In the Spotlight designates ongoing topics of high interest that are driven by The News & Observer’s focus on accountability reporting.
This story was originally published May 30, 2025 at 12:22 PM with the headline "NC governor: I know DMV is broken. We’re going to do something about it.."
