OLIVETTE, Mo. — Just two days after Missouri closed drivers license offices across the state for a software upgrade, drivers across the St. Louis region are reporting hours long waits.
When the Missouri Department of Revenue announced the upgrade to the FAST system, they said it would modernize an antiquated system with easier to navigate e-services, mobile identification credentials, and increased efficiency.
However, drivers said to this point it's simply not working.
Wednesday morning, as Jamyra Westmoreland attempted to get a new ID, she could only sum up her experience one way.
“It’s been hectic,” she said. “I’ve been in line for two days.”
90-year-old Lois Lane had a similar experience at the Olivette drivers license office after taking one look at the line. “I’m not going to stay today,” she said.
They each tried multiple driver license offices, but found the same issue at each stop.
“I went to South Kingshighway yesterday and today and the lines were standstill and weren’t moving,” Westmoreland said. “I went to the one on West Florissant and the line was pretty long.”
“I didn’t think it would be crowded today,” Lane said. “It’s just as bad today.”
“There’s about 30 people in front of me,” Westmoreland said. This has been the shortest line I’ve found so far.”
“I was in line yesterday for about 5 hours,” Westmoreland said.
Lane and Westmoreland said the slowdown is being caused by the state’s new FAST system.
“They’ve got a new system,” Westmoreland said. “I guess they’re transferring over, trying to get familiar with it, and the system keeps shutting down.”
Since the system has only been up and running for two days, Lane and Westmoreland were understanding, though they left anyone in need of an ID with these words of advice.
“Be here at 7 o’clock in the morning if they open at 8,” Lane said.
“It’s a new system, so give them a little grace, we’re going to be patient and hopefully it will be smoothed over in no time,” Westmoreland said.
Though it's taking some time to workout the bugs with the in-person system, you can now renew your driver’s license and pay any associated fees online by clicking here.
The Missouri Department of Revenue, which manages drivers license offices across the state, gave this statement Wednesday night:
The Department of Revenue’s Motor Vehicle and Driver License (MVDL) division successfully rolled out its modernized driver license and processing system at all license offices on Tuesday, November 12. Installation of new equipment and the system conversion process necessitated license office closures that ranged from 1-3 business days, in addition to Veterans Day, Monday, November 11, a federal holiday.
As anticipated, the number of customers wanting to conduct business after the brief closure has been higher than is typical for a given day. That increase, coupled with staff learning a new system, has caused some delays at some license offices. Each license office has added one additional driver license station to help serve customers and eventually reduce wait times in many offices. The number of customers coming to the license offices is expected to return to normal over the next few days. The Department appreciates customers’ patience as the 1500 personnel at 174 driver license offices throughout the state become accustom to the new system.
Customers are being reminded that they do now have the ability to complete some transactions online by visiting mydmv.mo.gov. New online features allowing Missourians to renew or apply for a duplicate driver license credential were also implemented on November 12.
Following are some key stats we are tracking:
On November 12, license offices across the State processed 5,295 driver license issuance transactions, which is roughly 90% of our typical daily volume. On an average day license offices statewide process approximately 6,000 license issuance transactions.
Many of the license office personnel have been able to process a transaction for a customer in less than 10 minutes.
The Olivette Office successfully completed 38 driver license transactions and averaged 22.63 minutes per transaction.