Sign at DVS license office
MINNEAPOLIS -- There's now a two-month backlog for those seeking a driving test appointment in the Twin Cities metropolitan area.
"We are working very hard to reduce the wait times," Andy Skoogman, communications director for the Department of Public Safety, told KARE.
"We are streamlining the hiring and the training process. We are looking at every avenue to help these new drivers get their licenses."
Walk-in tests are still available for those who have two to three hours to wait, but the office hours end at 4:00 p.m. in many Driver & Vehicle Services locations. That's why many parents of new teenage drivers try to book an appointment.
A Cottage Grove family wrote to KARE Tuesday to say the earliest they could book a driving test at the DVS office in Eagan is November 28. The earliest time available at the Hastings office was December 15th.
Skoogman said autumn is already the busiest season for teen road tests, because many high school students take their mandatory driver's education courses during summer break.
"They wrap them up at the end of summer," he explained. "They all want to get their driver's licenses now, and that is why typically at this time of year the wait is a little bit longer."
He said the typical wait, ranging from four weeks to five weeks, has grown to eight weeks in fall of 2011 because of several factors. The state government shutdown in July closed those offices, forcing existing appointments to be cancelled and delayed.
And the department hasn't filled several openings created by retirements and transfers. He said at full strength there are 50 driving examiners in the metro area, who as a group conduct an average 77,000 road tests.
This autumn that roster has dropped to 40 examiners, but Skoogman said DVS is accelerating the hiring and training process.
"We're in the process of hiring about 10 new examiners, and they should be out working in about four to six weeks," Skoogman said. "We fully anticipate that the wait times will get shorter when they get out there on the job."
(Copyright 2011 by KARE. All Rights Reserved.)