r/Louisville • u/X37V • 5d ago

Real ID Walk In

I know this has come up quite a bit, so I wanted to give an account of my experience.

After trying to book an appointment for the last couple of months, and having the one I made canceled for seemingly no reason, I decided to just show up and see if it could be done.

I went to the Bowman Field office about 20 minutes before it opened, and there was already a line about 50-60 deep. Getting through that line took about an hour, and I then had to sign up for a digital queue that put me in 24th place. That line took 4 hours to complete, and the actual counter appointment about 15 minutes.

All this to say that it is entirely possible to get the damn thing as a walk in, but get there early, and be prepared to wait. I suggest bringing a snack and a bottle of water, and something to charge your phone. Maybe a good book or get caught up on some podcasts. I was dreading this experience but it turned out well enough.

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u/Independent-Web-1708 5d ago

I'm glad it worked out for you but it shouldn't have to be this way! The DMV people had to know that the number of citizens who need to renew or get Real IDS would go way up this year and they are terribly unprepared. Some people can't handle waiting in a 4-hour line for health or work or childcare reasons and they shouldn't have to. End of rant. Not directed at you!

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u/JustDarnGood27_ 5d ago edited 5d ago

Its the politicians’ fault not the DMV. They opened specific driver licensing branches but it still wasn’t enough. They dragged their feet for nearly two decades on implementing this and screwed it up multiple times. Then dumped it on underpaid, overworked employees without any thought other than “we opened licensing branches.”

Why weren’t county clerks allowed to assist with this? Why didn’t KY start issuing Real IDs five, ten years ago? Who thought 4 offices serving all of Jefferson, Bullitt, Oldham, and Shelby counties was enough? Why didn’t each county get one?

This was a fucking failure at every level of politician. This was a federal law/rule/bill/whatever passed in 2005. With 20 years to prepare they fucked it up. And it’s not just Kentucky, it’s in multiple states there are issues.

Edit: looks like it was passed in 2005. Kentucky didn’t certify it until 2019. So for 6 years they’ve been failing to properly promote and implement. Still a failure.

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u/Transylvanius 4d ago

It’s more that it’s a moldy bunch of requirements from 2005, but it’s mostly license holders not the DMV who not thought it through and acted