The N.C. Department of Motor Vehicles is now open Saturday mornings.
Marty Homan, communications manager for the N.C. Department of Transportation, wants to us to spill the beans: Many DMV offices are open 8 a.m. to noon on Saturdays through Aug. 26.
Apparently, DMV offices at 2527 E. Market St. and 2391 Coliseum Blvd. in Greensboro and 2001 Silas Creek Parkway in Winston-Salem have been Saturday morning ghost towns.
“We have the capacity to serve many more folks on Saturdays than we have been,” Homan said in an email to the News & Record. “We’ve even had to send employees home early at some offices because there haven’t been customers to serve on Saturdays.
“We know the services are needed as appointments are booked up 90 days out at most offices in the area,” he said.
DMV started offering Saturday hours when it began its REAL ID push in response to a federal law requiring stricter documentation standards for issuing identification. REAL IDs will be required in 2025 to board airplanes or enter federal buildings.
In 2020 — with the arrival of the pandemic — the state agency stopped having Saturday hours, Homan said.
In subsequent years, however, it resumed Saturday hours at its busiest offices during the summer. Homan said staffing issues have prevented DMV from extending those hours year-round.
People wait for services inside the Division of Motor Vehicles on Coliseum Boulevard in Greensboro on Friday. DMV offices at 2527 E. Market St. and 2391 Coliseum Blvd. in Greensboro and 2001 Silas Creek Parkway in Winston-Salem have been Saturday morning ghost towns.