Our View: Secretary of State's Skip the Line program promises a real improvement in customer service.
This editorial is a consensus opinion of the Daily Herald Editorial Board.
One of the reasons Democrat Jesse White held onto the Secretary of State's office for so long is because of his outsize personality and likability. Had he decided to run for another term, he likely would have won it last year - at age 88.
The office itself hadn't changed dramatically during his 24-year tenure, mind you, although wait times seemed to have improved at driver's license facilities.
His successor, Democrat Alexi Giannoulias, however, in a short time has initiated a number of changes that will provide greater speed and convenience for the wide array of people who interact with the office, including all of us drivers.
Ask anyone for a list of frustrating experiences, and odds are good that waiting in line at the DMV is right up there.
Today marks the start of the Secretary of State's Skip The Line program, whose aim is to reduce wait time by requiring scheduled appointments for those who have to be there and expanding business hours at DMV locations. It also allows for many routine tasks to be performed online rather than in line at a DMV facility.
Skip The Line includes renewing your driver's license or state-issued ID online or ordering a new license plate sticker by going to ilsos.gov;
The busiest DMVs in the state, including Aurora, Deerfield, Des Plaines, Elgin, Lake Zurich, Lombard, Naperville, Schaumburg and St. Charles, will require reservations for in-person services, such as getting a REAL ID, which requires a number of types of identification and proof of residence, or taking a driver's test.
You can visit the website or call (844) 817-4649 to make an appointment.
No more running to the local DMV over lunch to get a quick license renewal to find that you'll never get out of there in time and ending up being late getting back to work, abandoning the line when it's clear you won't get back in time or not getting a chance to eat lunch.
You'll be able to find a time and day that works best for you - or at least have the confidence that if you have to leave work to go to the DMV, you'll be in and out quickly.
What the Secretary of State's office has needed for decades is a greater attention to the needs of its customers, and this will go a long way in improving on that record.
However, not everyone is anticipating smooth sailing - or is merely throwing cold water on the idea before it even begins.
Dave Syverson, a Republican state representative from suburban Rockford, said, "I am not convinced that this approach will offer all residents an improved experience," he wrote in a news release.
Sure, this limits one's sense of spontaneity.
But we can't imagine how taking a system based on managing a mob, requiring people to start lining up hours before the DMV opens and changing it to one in which people can better manage their time can be a bad thing.
We call sour grapes.