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Tim Nelson
St. Paul

Real ID rollout: Officials report light demand, normal wait times

People waited in the lobby of the state Driver and Vehicle Services.
People waited in the lobby of the state Driver and Vehicle Services office in downtown St. Paul on Monday, Oct. 1, 2018, as clerks at the office counter started taking applications for new drivers licenses that meet federal REAL ID requirements.
Tim Nelson | MPR News

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Updated: 4:25 p.m. | Posted: 12:24 p.m.

The launch of Real ID cards in Minnesota is off to a smooth start, at least in the initial hours.

The state began offering new federally-compliant driver's licenses and IDs at the start of business Monday morning. Applicants are required to provide an additional form of identification and that is expected to slow the process.

But officials reported relatively light demand for the new licenses, which will be required for boarding airliners and some other federally regulated activities on October 1, 2020. The state's existing licenses and IDs have been grandfathered in until then.

"Please be patient. It's a new system. And even with all of the training and all of the testing it will still take some time to become proficient," said Dawn Olson, Driver and Vehicle Services director. "Wait to visit an office unless you need to change your name, change your address or renew your current driver's license. This will help you because it will help reduce the amount of time you spend in line."

The state and the new system vendor, FAST Enterprises, were testing the system over the weekend, including sending in test applications from offices around the state.

REAL ID debut
Minnesota's Driver and Vehicle Services director, Dawn Olson, said the launch of a REAL ID system in Minnesota on Oct. 1, 2018, was going smoothly in the initial hours. She was joined by Dana Bailey, MNIT director of projects and initiatives (left) and Johanna Clyborne, the state's MNIT director (right).
Tim Nelson | MPR News

"The new cameras tested yesterday successfully sent through 133 photos, all interfaces including courts and BCA were successfully connected without issue and as of yesterday afternoon," said Dana Bailey, the director of projects and initiatives for Minnesota IT Services. "The system had already had more than 11,000 hits from law enforcement."

She also said that people were taking advantage of a pre-application offered by the state online, which will cut the time it takes to apply for a REAL ID by about half, Bailey said.

That said, there wasn't a huge demand for the new licenses yet.

Officials said they had more than 4,400 applications for standard driver's licenses as of Monday afternoon and only about 711 applications for the upgraded REAL ID licenses.

Olson, the DVS director said wait times were ranging from 10 to 30 minutes, and that it wasn't significantly different from typical traffic at most offices.