HOUSTON – This summer, customers at Houston area Texas Department of Public Safety Driver License Centers have found long lines.
Friday afternoon, hundreds of people were waiting in line outside the DPS facility in Rosenberg.
On Thursday morning, the line was approximately twice as long -- meandering into the parking lot.
"We are standing, it's hot and if this is what my tax dollars are paying for, I want a refund," customer Todd Barnett said.
Summer is always the busiest time for the DPS facilities, but system-wide understaffing and a temporarily closed-for-remodeling Mega Center at 12220 S. Gessner Road, in southwest Houston, has compounded the problem.
"There was no place to sit down. I gave a family with children some snacks I had brought," Feroze Parekh said.
Parekh said he spent eight hours at the Rosenberg location Thursday. He was obtaining a driving permit for his son.
He chronicled his experience in a video.
"The majority of customers who come into Texas Driver License offices don't have to," a Texas DPS press release stated Thursday.
First-time renewals, and changes of address can most often be handled online.
For those tasks that require visiting a Texas DPS office, customers can bypass the line by making an appointment.