The implementation of the Real ID driver’s license requirement for flying led to record numbers of people visiting DOT driver’s license offices.
DOT Motor Vehicles Division director Kathleen Meradith-Eyers says traffic picked up as the May 7th deadline approached. “Starting with a 20% increase in April, early April, then 30%, then 40%. And this past week we issued 56% more cards across the state than normal,” she says. Meradith-Eyers says the total impact of the Real ID rush nearly doubled the visits they normally see. “All combined in the last two months, our overall volume and issuance have increased 49%,” she says. “We believe a significant amount of media coverage has contributed to this rush and this increased interest.”
She says they made adjustments to meet the demand. “We have expanded service center hours. We’ve opened early and we’ve stayed late. We have worked overtime and we’ve shifted staff across the state to our high-demand location to ensure that service is available to Iowans,” Meradith-Eyers. Meradith-Eyers says driver’s license appointments have taken longer to get, but they expect that to ease up. “In the mornings, our average appointment lead time is two to five days, and by the afternoon, our statewide lead time can be ten to 14 days,” she says. “This shows that demand remains elevated, and we do expect things to level out to normal volumes around the end of May and early June.”
Meradith-Eyers says 76% of Iowa license holders had already switched to Real ID before the deadline, and that made things go smoothly as the requirement went into place.
“Since May 7th, TSA reported that over 33,000 passengers were screened at the Des Moines and Cedar Rapids airports. And of those, only one-and-a-half percent of passengers had a non-compliant ID. So this amounts to less than 500 passengers total,” she says.
Meradith-Eyers says the national average for Real ID sign up was around 60% heading into the deadline.