Frustrations over long wait times at the Division of Motor Vehicles became so bad in 2020, WRAL 5 On Your Side began investigating.
Wayne Goodwin, the commissioner of North Carolina’s DMV, said Wednesday he will not reapply for his position.
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Goodwin provided WRAL 5 On Your Side with a statement about his tenure.
“In addition to ongoing DMV modernization projects and online initiatives launched or expanded on my watch, NC needs a DMV workforce that more proportionally reflects the explosive population growth of our State. NC has had well over 2.4 million *new* residents over 20 years but only 3 new offices (net),” Goodwin wrote. “I have shared this fact publicly time and time again while underscoring that DMV is an essential service.
“When private businesses realize there are 2.4 million new customers (and growing), they add positions and open more locations in addition to online services and seeking greater efficiencies.”
Did Wayne Goodwin deliver on his promises to improve the DMV?
When Goodwin took the DMV’s commissioner job in 2022, he promised to tackle long wait times and limited appointment availability.
While Goodwin made some progress, it clearly wasn’t enough in the eyes of residents and lawmakers.
In November 2022, Goodwin said, “We are working tirelessly to shorten lines and shorten wait times.”
At the time, Goodwin promised significant improvements, which customers in our later stories airing in 2023 and 2024 say they never really felt.
In November 2023, a customer told 5 On Your Side about a two-hour wait.
WRAL 5 On Your Side often took viewer concerns directly to Goodwin, including in November 2022. At the time, it took some people months to get a DMV appointment.
Goodwin took a hands-on approach, personally responding to those concerns.
On a broader scale, Goodwin committed to hiring more staff, introducing self-serve kiosks and launching a real-time wait-time tool, enabling residents to check office wait times before visiting.
Data provided by the DMV shows improvements did happen during Goodwin’s tenure.
Goodwin hired 400 workers, dropping the vacancy rate by 20%.
Wait times dropped too, below pre-pandemic levels at 38 mins in 2018 and 20 minutes in 2023 and 25 minutes in 2024. Of course, some North Carolinians never felt that.
In July 2023, some customers told WRAL 5 On Your Side they had wait times of three hours.