What better way to turbocharge the Monday blues than to stand in a chilly drizzle on an endless line at the driver license center, waiting to see if bureaucracy will bless you with its rubber stamp or
Such was the fate of scores of people who went to the СŷƵ Driver License Center outside Allentown on Monday to acquire a
Getting Real ID is optional, in the sense that owning a smartphone is optional these days. In other words, life will be harder without it. After the May 7 enforcement deadline, you’ll need Real ID to board a domestic commercial flight, The same goes for entering military bases and most other federal facilities.
“A real fun day,” said Paul Erfle of Bethlehem, chatting with others in line as he waited for the doors to open at 10 a.m. Getting the ID was the first chore on a list that included doing his taxes, he said.
License centers are normally closed on Monday, but with the deadline looming, PennDOT has been holding special Real ID events at centers across the state.
Business hours are devoted solely to the issuance of the identifications, which were mandated by a 2005 act of Congress addressing post 9/11 security concerns. The act standardized requirements for issuing IDs that had previously varied by state.
The original Real ID deadline was 2008, but was extended several times because many states initially resisted adopting the standards. The COVID-19 pandemic led to further delays.
About 2.5 million Pennsylvanians have acquired the IDs so far.
“I was putting it off,” said Christine Comly, who drove up from West Chester. “I have a passport. I’m just getting this in case there’s a delay in getting my passport when I renew it.”
Despite the weather and the waiting, Comly seemed in good spirits, and so did the people immediately around her.
“I’m the keeper of the documents,” said a smiling Douglas Kemp of Quakertown, there with his 20-year-old son, Logan. Doug got his Real ID two years ago; Logan put it off, but needs it now because he’s flying to Utah to visit a friend.
First in line was Debra Thomas of Allentown. She arrived at 7 a.m., willing to endure the weather because she assumed the process would take a long time. That’s because there’s a discrepancy between the street address on her driver’s license and the one on her utility bills. The bills say 2028; the license says 2030.
“PennDOT put that on my ID because they said 2028 wasn’t in their system,” she said.
“That’s going to be y’all’s problem,” she told a PennDOT representative who suggested the discrepancy might hold things up.
It did, apparently, hold things up, because after 30 minutes or so, many people had entered and left, but of Thomas there was no sign.
Some people never got as far as the front door. A center worker spot-checking paperwork sent a few people away to get additional documents.
Once inside, things moved quickly, said Nick Gray of Nazareth, checking his wristwatch as he headed for his car.
“Eleven minutes,” he said.
Gray and the other applicants didn’t leave with a license, however. They’ll arrive in the mail within 15 days.
- For a full explanation of REAL ID and how to acquire it — including a list of necessary documents — Additional Real ID Days are scheduled for April 7, 14, 28 and May 5 at the СŷƵ Driver License Center, 1710 Hoover Ave. in Hanover Township; Whitehall Driver License Center, 1101 MacArthur Road, Whitehall Township; and Easton Driver License Center, 2473 Nazareth Road, Palmer Township.
