AUGUSTA – Hoping to get a jump on renewing his driver’s license, which expires at the end of the month, Gilbert Reynolds left work early Sept. 2 and traveled to the mobile unit of the Bureau of Motor Vehicle Division in Pittsfield.

The only jump that the Dexter man got from that trip, however, was in his blood pressure level; he was turned away because of computer problems and because too many people were waiting to be processed for the limited hours the mobile unit was open.

While the motor vehicle workers were apologetic, it did little to pacify Reynolds, who serves as superintendent and principal at the Harmony School.

“I’m still irritated because I think the hours they are open are pretty difficult for someone who works away, and then to be turned away …,” Reynolds said Friday.

Roger Ross of Pittsfield also was turned away on Sept. 2 at the Pittsfield mobile unit because of the problems.

“I think it’s a little disappointing; they should improve their computer system and be open for more than two days a week,” he said Friday.

Secretary of State Matt Dunlap said this week that he is well aware that some people are angry because of the long lines, but noted that not all the problems arise from the computer system.

“We’re looking at traffic 190 percent of normal,” Dunlap said, adding that a cyclical spike that began when photo identifications were created has caused much of the congestion.

To reduce the long waiting time for motorists, which he called “unacceptable,” Dunlap asked the Legislature for $375,000 in highway funds for 14 temporary positions for a few months. His office is in the process of filling these positions, but cautioned that it would take time to train the new staff members.

Before July, the average wait time for most of the transactions was 30 minutes or less, according to Doug Dunbar, deputy secretary of state. Defending the bureau’s record of service, he said Friday that annual surveys conducted through the University of Maine have shown that more than 90 percent of Bureau of Motor Vehicles customers are usually “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with service. The level in 2004 was 93 percent, he said.

“We recognized that this summer’s longer wait times will likely impact that traditionally high level of satisfaction, but it’s important to be mindful that Maine people have generally been satisfied by the service BMV has provided in recent years,” Dunbar said.

Not as many people as hoped are using the state’s Web site, www.maine.gov/sos/bmv, to do their official business, according to both Dunlap and Dunbar, who are contemplating installing kiosks at branch offices to advertise this service.

The Secretary of State’s Office offers more online services than any other state agency, and these services are available 24 hours a day from any location with a computer and Internet access, Dunbar said.

Overall, the statewide average waiting time has been declining since the peak in early July, Dunbar said. He acknowledged that while there are still lengthy waits at certain branches, especially on Mondays and Fridays, the trend is moving in the right direction. In recent weeks, the statewide average was 50-60 minutes, he said.

For Ross, who returned to the Pittsfield office this week, that wait was three hours, 10 minutes.

Reynolds said that whatever improvements are made can’t come soon enough. He said that after being turned away at Pittsfield, he made a call a few days later to the Skowhegan division and found that it too was inundated with requests.

He finally called the Bangor branch office and was assured that he would get service, and he did – after an hour’s drive and a two-hour wait.

“I just hope people don’t have to go through a process where they have to go more than once and make arrangements to leave work early each time,” Reynolds said.