Ada County Driver's License Office evolving: Tips to reduce the wait

BOISE, Idaho (CBS2) Sitting and waiting for your number to be called to get a new drivers license, you might wonder how long will it take? There have been recent changes at the Ada County Driver's License Office on 400 N. Benjamin Lane to make the wait go quicker.

BOISE, Idaho (CBS2) — Sitting and waiting for your number to be called to get a new drivers license, you might wonder how long will it take?

There have been recent changes at the Ada County Driver's License Office on 400 N. Benjamin Lane to make the wait go quicker.

However, according to Ada County Sheriff Steve Bartlett, the average wait times at the Driver's License Office is just about an hour.

Some told CBS 2 News that they waited about two hours to get their license renewed. But others waited minutes, because they got an appointment ahead of time.

Bartlett agrees that booking an appointment ahead of time is one way to reduce wait times. He says plan ahead.

“Go online and it will tell you all of the necessary forms and paperwork and documents that you would need to make sure that you only have to do one trip to our driver's license office," Said Bartlett. "And not have to leave and get other paperwork. You can do it all in the same appointment.”

And timing is everything.

"We truly see a significantly different number of people coming on Monday and Friday," said Bartlett. "Those are two highest days."

Sheriff Bartlett says even the slower days are getting busier as the valley grows.

"So on any given week, we have about 4800 customers that come through our doors Monday through Friday, with one of our highest days being a little bit over 1400 and 50 customers in one day," said Sheriff Bartlett. "That's our, you know, astronomical numbers for us here in Ada county. And so the math, Ada county is growing over the last five years by approximately 22%. Well, those 22% increase in population have to get a driver's license."

The Sheriffs Office has done a few things to decrease the wait times:

  • Added an hour to our work day opening at 7:30 a.m. and closing at 5:30 p.m.
  • Online appointment scheduling up to three months out
  • Added an employee to answer phone calls from those who have questions or want to know how long the current wait times are
  • Added a clerk in the lobby to make sure people are ready to get their license renewed before waiting

    • The sheriff's office are looking to add a new location, and add more drivers license stations. Bartlett says that they are also looking at the possibility of opening on Saturday hours.

    “One of the things that we're really excited about is in our budget presentation," said Sheriff Bartlett. "We asked the county commissioners to fund a second driver's license location. It's $505,000, initially, for the first year to start up not only to find the lease, but to get that built out.”

    To book an appointment click HERE.

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