Lines leaked outside and stretched away from buildings this week at local BMV branches.
The Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles met long lines and delays when it reopened its branches to in-person customers.
Tuesday was the first day since March 23 branches were open around the state, and wait times just to get inside ranged from 30 minutes to more than an hour in some locations. Lines were so long BMV officials encouraged patrons to pack water and an umbrella to keep cool as temperatures reached the high 80s. Once inside, the wait was even longer.
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It was the first time the BMV had offered walk-in services in months, and Johnson County residents flocked to local branches to renew license plates, change their addresses and take learner’s permit tests.
The BMV is back to performing most transactions, with the exception of driving tests, and hours of operations have returned to five days a week, according to a BMV news release.
In the first two hours Tuesday, more than 5,400 transactions were processed at branches throughout the state. By the end of the day, the agency had processed more than 46,000 transactions in a single day, said Christine Meyer, spokesperson for the BMV.
“That’s a lot considering we’re only half staffed right now,” Meyer said. “Anything close to 50,000 on a regular fully-staffed day is huge.”
To meet Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, only a certain number of people are allowed inside the branches at a time, with everyone else required to wait in a separate line outside, according to the news release. Employees are required to wear masks, and sneeze guards were installed at every counter. The state is also encouraging anyone who is waiting in line or enters a branch to wear a mask, the news release said.
At lunchtime Tuesday, about 20 people waited in line outside the Franklin BMV on Jefferson Street, and another 20 people waited inside, sitting on chairs placed a few feet apart to accommodate social distancing guidelines.
Michelle Simon had been at the Franklin branch for almost an hour waiting for her daughter to get her driver’s license. The line outside, which stretched to the Chicago’s Pizza next door, moved faster than she expected it to, she said. She waited outside while her daughter went inside because the BMV also has a one-person per transaction rule right now, unless a parent is needed to assist a minor.
Simon was not surprised by the wait, she said.
“If I could have talked her out of coming today I would have, but she was like, ‘No!’ I wanted to wait until next week,” she said.
Jessi Ellis was also waiting at the Franklin branch with her son Allen to take his learner’s permit test. They were outside for about 15 minutes, Ellis said.
In Greenwood, a line of about 30 people stretched off the sidewalk and around the building outside the BMV branch on Washington Street, which was allowing 10 people inside at a time.
Jeremy Hedlee stood in line for more than an hour to get inside, he said. He was at the BMV to get a license plate for his new truck, he said.
The penalty fees for expired driver’s licenses, plates, permits, state identification cards and vehicle registrations are waived until June 30 to allow the BMV to catch up on transactions now that it’s reopened. But Hedlee wanted to make sure he got his new plates the first day he could to make sure he had them in time, he said.
“I figured now that they are open, my grace period is over. I kind of feel like I have to get through today no matter what,” Hedlee said.
Mac Fritz was in line for the same reason, needing to replace his temporary license plate for his new car. He tried to book an appointment online, but all the time slots were booked, he said.
“My temporary plate is up July 5, and I didn’t want to wait until the last minute,” Fritz said.
Most people waiting in the long lines were not upset about it. Terrence Winston-Campbell waited 45 minutes to get about halfway through the line, he said, but he knew there was going to be a long wait.
“I just figured out today was the first day they opened … I kind of figured there was going to be a line, but I didn’t think it would be this long,” Winston-Campbell said.
BMV officials do not expect branches to stay this busy until the June 30 deadline, Meyer said, but the next few days might have longer waits, similar to Tuesday.
