By Doug Fletcher,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – For years the state’s Motor Vehicle Offices were the brunt of jokes about long waiting lines and lousy service.

Then, over time, the Secretary of State’s Office, which oversees the work of motor vehicle office employees, modernized. It initiated online motor vehicle registrations, then online license renewals, and title searches, and vanity plate research. Soon, lines began to shrink. A University of Maine survey of office customers found that 93 percent either said they were “pleased” or “very pleased” with their MV office experience.

Now, the lines are back. On Wednesday, the wait at the Mollison Way Motor Vehicle Office was estimated at about 80 people at midafternoon. Similar lines were forming at MV offices around the state.

“It will get better,” promised Doug Dunbar, an assistant secretary of state, Wednesday.

There’s a combination of factors at play for the delays, he said. Topping the list is a new computer system. It went online last week. That’s when the delays started showing up, said Dunbar. As employees get more familiar with it, the wait due to using the system will ease. But that won’t eliminate some other problems.

“End of the month, and the start of a new month are always busy times,” Dunbar said. That’s because that’s when licenses and registrations typically expire and are being renewed.

And starting this month, Dunbar said, the state entered a cycle year when there will be more licenses expiring than usual.

Dunbar said the Secretary of State is encouraging people to use its online services, which are available 24/7, to renew motor vehicle registrations. Many people can also renew their drivers license that way, he noted, although new license photos are required at a minimum of every 12 years.

“Get online, not in line” is a motto of the office, he noted.

He also suggested that people who have to visit a Motor Vehicle Office do so early in the day, before 11 a.m., or late in the day, after 3 p.m.

At midday, he said, the lines tend to grow long.