THE WAIT GOES ON : Long Lines Continue at DMV Offices Despite Appointments, Computers

Linda Haim, a Northridge social worker, had taken the morning off from her job to renew her driver’s license and car registration at the state Department of Motor Vehicles office in Van Nuys.

After a frustrating 1 1/2 hours--including 55 minutes in a slow-moving line for her written license test--she left with only her temporary driver’s license and frayed nerves.

“Ridiculous,” Haim fumed. “I’ll have to come back.”

Haim’s experience is hardly unique. Despite the much-heralded statewide computerization and adoption of an appointment system four years ago, residents are still creeping along in DMV lines that seem to mirror freeway gridlock. Officials acknowledge that an occasional patron even passes out in the process.

The average waiting times in San Fernando Valley offices are well above the statewide averages, according to DMV figures. In addition, those who want to bypass the lines by making appointments often are deterred by multiple busy signals and recorded messages.

‘Growth in Population’

“I don’t think the advantages we have in automation have kept up with the growth in population,” said Yolanda Ericsson, who manages the Canoga Park office. “We cannot accommodate all of the customers.”

While acknowledging that the ideal of no waiting remains utopian, DMV officials still maintain that some things have improved and that further progress is expected this year.

Those who are able to use the appointment system can dramatically reduce waiting time. Express boxes in DMV offices provide a 48-hour turnaround for those who drop off their forms, officials say.

Computers have allowed the oft-maligned agency to cut in half the amount of time that it takes to process driver’s licenses and titles. This used to take 60 to 90 days; it now takes four weeks, said Diane Ward, Van Nuys office manager.

Moreover, the DMV opened an office in North Hollywood in November and plans to open two more--in Reseda and Simi Valley--later this year, a substantial increase in the number of Valley-area offices. DMV officials say this reflects the seriousness of local bureaucratic congestion and their determination to relieve it.

To speed the process, the DMV is leasing the new offices from businesses or individuals rather than building them, DMV spokesman William Gengler said. This has reduced planning, budgeting and construction time from as long as five years to six to eight months.

The Valley area was chosen for two of the 16 offices scheduled to be opened statewide this year because it has experienced an influx of residents, particularly immigrants, in recent years. Last year’s federal amnesty program for illegal immigrants significantly increased the number of those seeking licenses and vehicle registrations, officials said.

The Van Nuys office, for example, had a 29% jump in driver’s license applications in 1988, Ward said.

The impact is visible at each of the Valley offices, where long lines are dominated by Latinos. At the Arleta office, consumers speak Spanish more frequently than English.

The new facilities will reduce the driving time for those who live near them. But here too, there is a downside. Due to budget constraints, staff members are being transferred from existing offices to the new branches. The Arleta office, where the driver’s license line sometimes stretches out the front door, will lose five of its 50 employees to the Reseda office.

“This should take some of the load off an office that is overburdened now,” Gengler said. “Our offices are still able to function effectively.”

Figures for average waiting times indicate that consumers can avoid the DMV blues by making an appointment. Appointments for a written or behind-the-wheel license test or registration usually can be made at Valley offices within one to 10 days, officials say.

Statewide, the average wait for transactions without appointments was 14 minutes in November, the most recent period for which figures were available. The average wait for those with appointments throughout California was 4.2 minutes.

The time logged in the Los Angeles region--which had average waits of 18.6 minutes for no appointments and 5.4 minutes for appointments--was the highest in the state.

The figures for three offices surveyed by The Times last week generally were higher than the statewide average and, in some instances, well above the Los Angeles numbers.

For the Van Nuys office, the average wait for those without appointments was 24 minutes for the license test and 22 minutes for registrations, Ward said. The longest waits were 55 and 40 minutes, respectively. The same day, those with driver’s license or registration appointments waited two to three minutes.

The numbers were similar for Arleta and Canoga Park. The shortest average wait at any of the offices was 17 minutes for a driver’s license test at Canoga Park. During peak periods at Arleta, the average wait for a license test was 41 minutes.

“Complaints from motorists are down compared to what we used to get,” said Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar), who is chairman of the Assembly Transportation Committee and whose 39th District includes Arleta. But, informed of the recent waiting times for the Los Angeles area and the Valley, he responded: “That’s obviously not acceptable.”

At the crowded Van Nuys facility, Janie Ortuno and Marque Coy recently personified the contrast between the appointment and no-appointment experience.

Ortuno, 33, a clinical audiologist from Sherman Oaks, had made a 9:40 a.m. appointment to get her license plates. The clerk helped her immediately. She had paid her fees and was out the door by 9:50. “Piece of cake,” Ortuno said, her face beaming.

Coy, 34, a sound engineer from Sherman Oaks, had made a driver’s license appointment but had been forced to cancel it. The result: one hour in line.

“I can get a passport quicker than a driver’s license,” Coy said as he inched forward in a line with 28 others.

Occasionally, someone stops in their tracks.

“In every office I’ve worked in for the DMV, I’ve had somebody faint in the lobby for one reason or another,” said Ward, a 14-year DMV veteran. “It may be a pregnant woman or someone who does not like standing in line.”

DMV office managers said a major roadblock to shorter lines has been the public’s failure to take advantage of the appointment option.

Ericsson estimated that only 10% to 15% of Canoga Park office customers make appointments. Drew said the figure is 15% to 20% in Arleta. At Van Nuys, where more than one in three customers make appointments, Ward said, “we have a lot of repeat customers who realize the appointment system works.”

Some consumers maintain that the appointment system simply does not work because they are unable to get through on the phone lines. This appears to be a particular problem at the Arleta office.

Veronica A. Koncilya, an Arleta secretary, said she tried for 2 1/2 weeks to make an appointment to renew her registration. She said she gave up after being put on hold with a recorded message for five minutes or more 20 times. So she simmered for 34 minutes at the Arleta facility recently.

“It’s a very poor system,” Koncilya said as she waited. “I think I’ll write to Gov. Deukmejian and ask him if he stands in line.”

(Donna Lucas, George Deukmejian’s deputy press secretary, said he handles his personal vehicles “just like any other citizen.” He was out of the country last week, so Lucas said she could not determine whether he mails in his DMV forms or stands in line.)

Koncilya’s experience is neither unique nor new. A Times reporter who tried five times to reach the Arleta appointment number during a three-hour period was greeted with a busy signal. Efforts over two days to reach the Thousand Oaks office on the appointment line were also unsuccessful. The line was busy five times one day and 10 times the next during a six-hour period.

Overworked phone lines apparently have been a problem since the appointment system was instituted with great expectations in 1985.

“Give us another two or three months,” then-acting Arleta manager Frank Smith told The Times in March, 1985. “If we aren’t there, we will be close to it.”

Yet Drew, who has run the Arleta office for the past three years, acknowledged recently that backed-up phone lines for appointments “is a problem statewide. . . . A horrendous amount of calls do come in and we have a recording and it is frustrating to wait.”

In Arleta, one or two employees generally staff the four appointment lines. In Van Nuys, three and sometimes four employees handle the four appointment lines. Ward said callers are generally helped within five to 10 minutes. And a Times reporter got through to a clerk at Van Nuys on several tries.

DMV spokesman Gengler said the Sacramento office had sought to alleviate the telephone gridlock by upgrading the phone system. He said the department is exploring the feasibility of designing a computer modeled on those used for reservations by airlines. This would allow consumers to call a single number and make appointments at any DMV office in the state.

Officials of businesses that benefit from the long lines and appointment snafus maintain that their experience indicates that the DMV has hardly made a dent in driver backlog.

“You go . . . on any given day and there’s still going to be a tremendous long line,” said Richard Slobin, president of the California Automobile Registration Service, which charges a fee to act as a middleman for consumers.

Slobin said his Tarzana-based company’s sales have increased 20% in the last 18 months to $360,000 annually. The firm handles 10,000 to 15,000 license and registration transactions a year.

“We deal with the educated customer who has had a bad experience or does not want to deal with DMV,” Slobin said.

Bette Harper, who runs a registration service out of her Sylmar home, agreed with Slobin’s appraisal. “They are totally understaffed in the offices,” she said.

There are some things worse than waiting in a DMV line once every few years with your temper overheating. Ask Penole George.

The hospital technician brought 18-year-old Tanisha Farrington, who lives with her, to take the written driver’s license test at Van Nuys. She said she had called for an appointment but was told that Farrington would have to wait eight days.

George, who lives in Sepulveda, impatiently leaned against a counter while Farrington crept forward in line.

“If you’ve got to wait for a period of time, that’s fine,” George said. “But this here’s ridiculous.”

An hour later, Farrington had taken the test. But as George walked out with her, she was already anticipating their return. “She failed,” she said.

DMV OFFICES

1. Thousand Oaks, 1810 Avenida De Los Arboles, 805-493-2851

2. Simi Valley, 3855D Alamo St., (Scheduled to open in Feb. 1989)

3. Canoga Park, 20725 Sherman Way, 818-346-0133

4. Reseda, 18108 Parthenia Ave., (Scheduled to open in May 1989)

5. Newhall, 24427 Newhall Ave., 805-259-9010

6. Arleta, 14400 Van Nuys Blvd., 818-897-2446

7. Van Nuys, 14920 Van Owen Blvd., 818-901-5500

8. North Hollywood, 10940 Victory Blvd, 818-766-0004 (Opened Nov. 15, 1988)

All offices are open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Mon-Wed. and Fri. The hours are 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Thurs. For general information, call 818-501-5321.

TIPS FOR CONSUMERS: HOW TO AVOID DMV GRIDLOCK

Renew your driver’s license or registration early enough to do it by mail. Call the general information or appointment numbers to find out what forms are needed; DMV will send you an information packet on request.

If you don’t have time to use the mail, drop forms and documents off at “Express Box” at branch offices. Turnaround time should be 48 hours.

If you must handle a transaction in person, call for an appointment. This can save you a half hour or more. Appointment times are generally available within one to 10 days.

If you cannot make an appointment, try to go to the offices during the middle of the week; avoid Mondays and Fridays. Lunch hour and late afternoon tend to be the busiest times.

Source: California Department of Motor Vehicles officials