New DPS 'megacenters' in Spring, Rosenberg draw praise

Richard Valenti uses a kiosk to check his wait time during the Spring megacenter's grand opening Thursday. Richard Valenti uses a kiosk to check his wait time during the Spring megacenter's grand opening Thursday. Photo: Cody Duty, Staff Photo: Cody Duty, Staff Image 1 of / 17 Caption Close New DPS 'megacenters' in Spring, Rosenberg draw praise 1 / 17 Back to Gallery

Tom Butler of Conroe couldn't have been happier about his family's experience at the brand-new Department of Public Safety driver's license center in Spring.

One of the agency's two "megacenters" that opened Thursday, the Spring facility, on Spring Cypress Road in a renovated Albertson's supermarket, has 22 work stations and is designed to handle up to 700 customers a day.

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Those who were lucky enough to be among the first had wait times of less than five minutes, in stark contrast to the prevailing image of DPS offices with lines out the door.

"All I can say is this is wonderful," Butler said, while his son, George, finished getting his expired license renewed.

The entire process, including the road test and the written test, took about an hour, the elder Butler said.

The day before, he and his son had gone to the DPS center on Will Clayton Parkway in Humble and were told the earliest date that facility could schedule George's road test would be the middle of February.

But after DPS staff members in Conroe and Austin steered the father-son pair to the Spring facility, they got in right away, Tom Butler said.

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"Our waiting time was two minutes, not two months," he said. "I was ecstatic."

The other new megacenter, on the Southwest Freeway in Rosenberg, has the same 24,000 square feet of space as the Spring site and can accommodate an even larger traffic volume. The Rosenberg center has 36 work stations in preparation for up to 1,000 customers per day.

These numbers far surpass the typical Houston-area DPS center, which has six to eight work stations and can process about 300 people in a day, said Trooper Richard Standifer, a DPS spokesman who was at the Spring center's opening.

Early customers were especially pleased with the new center's technology, Standifer said. Among other features, people can reserve a spot in line from a home computer or smart phone before they even arrive.

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At the centers, self-serve kiosks enable customers to enter a cellphone number to receive a text message with the expected wait time.

If the wait time is long, a spacious layout allows ample room for a crowd. The Spring center has two waiting spots, one that holds 214 people and another with chairs for 105. Additional space is available if needed, said Standifer.

Kristen Black and her sister-in-law, Rachel Black, both of Spring, said they were delighted at the new facility.

"It's so nice not to have to drive to Conroe and wait in a room the size of your living room with 100 people," said Kristen Black, who was at the Spring center to update her license. "The cellphone number system is awesome."

DPS chose Spring and Rosenberg for the Houston area's new centers based upon population growth, the department said.

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Last year, the Texas Legislature allocated $63 million to open six DPS megacenters and to hire 266 new employees to staff them. The first such center opened in October in Pflugerville.

Two more centers are scheduled to open next month in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, along with one in the San Antonio area.

"I think it's a great asset to the department, and it's been a long time coming," Standifer said. "We'll see where the rubber hits the road when we have 300 to 400 folks in here."