State officials acknowledge that a trip to an Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles office too often can resemble a "cattle call" when it comes to wait times to renew a license or pick up a plate.

In a bid to reduce wait times, an online program to allow Ohioans to virtually reserve their spot in line began testing Monday at a dozen BMV deputy registrar offices, including nine in the Columbus area.

"Get In Line, Online," will allow customers to go online and claim a space in line without physically waiting. Customers can see estimated wait times, show up during a four-hour window, check in at a kiosk and assume their spot.

The downside, at least for those who do not save their spot online: They could have been physically in line longer, but may be jumped by those with an online reservation. State officials hope data collected can lessen wait times for all.

"Right now, drivers can be subjected to significant wait times, which is inconvenient, inefficient and frustrating," Gov. Mike DeWine said at one of the pilot locations at the BMV office in the Worthington area.

"We can certainly do better than this," the governor said, citing the example of an unidentified BMV office where customers waited an hour and six minutes for service last week.

Bureau of Motor Vehicles Registrar Charles Norman said the system could be rolled out statewide — at a cost of more than $800,000 — in about six months if the $20,000 pilot project works well.

"It has a calming effect," Norman said. "People don't like to stand in line for a cattle call." Ohio is believed to be the first state to test such a system.

The data to be collected, such as wait times, eventually could identify registrar offices that need to hire more employees, or schedule more to work during busy times to deal with lines of customers, he said.

Ohio has 186 BMV deputy registrar offices that process about 16 million transactions a year.

Lt. Gov. Jon Husted said the test aligns well with the InnovateOhio program he leads to employ technology to improve customer service in Ohioans' dealings with state agencies.

Here are the Columbus-area locations involved in the test and which accept online reservations for a spot in line:

• 1583 Alum Creek Dr., Columbus

• 112 Dillmont Dr., Columbus

• 2970 Hayden Run Plaza, Columbus

• 4503 Kenny Road, Columbus

• 4161 W. Broad St., Columbus

• 5287 Westpointe Plaza, Columbus

• 3040 Southwest Blvd., Grove City

• 4740 Cemetery Road, Hilliard

• 17 Cherri Park Square, Westerville

rludlow@dispatch.com

@RandyLudlow