Tag Agencies, Oklahomans Frustrated With New Driver’s License System

The Real ID system has become a real pain for Oklahomans. People continue to tell us the problems aren’t getting any better when it comes to getting a driver’s license. People are waiting in long lines or waiting months to get an appointment. One local tag agency said it’s frustrating for everyone, but tag agencies are at the mercy of DPS. 

Bixby’s Tag Agency said it used to process on average 80 driver’s licenses a day, but with the new Real ID system, they’re lucky to do half that.

“Total frustration. Total frustration,” said Tom Hufnagel, office manager at the Bixby Tag Agency. “We've had to reschedule people three and four times because they schedule, come in, the system is down. And I get it. Nobody wants to come back, but our hands are tied."

Hufnagel said the new ID system they moved to in 2020 has caused a lot of technical issues and goes down sometimes for three to four hours a day. He tells us this puts a lot of strain on those whose driver’s licenses are expired.

“They can't go to the doctor, they can't pick up their prescriptions, they can't cash a check. So, it's causing a lot of problems for a lot of people,” Hufnagel said.

Hufnagel said it's impacting everyday life for people like Corey Barnhart who got in line at DPS at 6:30 a.m. for his driver’s license and CDL permit. 

“The stress level is up here with it,” said Barnhart. “Yesterday I drove to three different places and nobody could get me in."

Barnhart said the option was to wait over five hours or come back next week.

“Which is another day off work, and you know, people depend on me,” Barnhart said. 

Sarah Stewart with DPS said they're monitoring the system 24/7 to track down where the issues occur. 

"It's all hands-on deck and everybody is actively working together to figure those problems out,” said Stewart. “We want people to know that we're confident that these issues will be resolved. We're going to keep at it until they are resolved. Now that we've got so much manpower on it, I believe that it should be resolved soon." 

She said the system was tested ahead of switching to it and they still have confidence in program itself. She said DPS doesn't employ any information technology technicians rather it relies on OMES and Microsoft to provide direction and solutions. 

Stewart said they’ve made smaller fixes along the way. For instance, she said there was a document taking too long to print and they made improvements accordingly. 

DPS is considering staying open later in the evenings and opening some locations on Saturdays. Stewart said appointments are booked out 60 days right now. She told News On 6 that new appointment times after those 60 days come online at 6 p.m. every night. 

Stewart said you don’t need a Real ID to fly by the October first deadline if you have some form of federally compliant identification like a passport. She told Channel 6 you have the option to renew your regular ID, state ID cards and CDL online here.

For more information on what you need to get a Real ID, visit the website here.