It's getting down to crunch time for Pennsylvanians to get their REAL ID card.
As the May 7 deadline for REAL ID approaches, state Department of Transportation (PennDOT) Secretary Mike Carroll provided an update on Tuesday about the process.
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"Starting May 7, if you don't have a Real ID or a passport, then you're not going to be able to board a commercial flight anywhere in Pennsylvania," Carroll said on Tuesday.
Next month, the federal law mandating a REAL ID card or driver's license goes into effect. Not only will it be needed for domestic flights, but also to enter a federal building or military installation, following the May 7 deadline.
Carroll said a REAL ID care will have a gold star in the corner of the ID.
At this point, about 26%, or about 2.5 million drivers in the state, have already secured their cards or licenses.
The REAL ID is optional for Pennsylvanians, if they have a passport. Without either one, a person will not be able to board a commercial flight in the state following the deadline, even if a ticket was purchased prior to May 7.
So a little more than a month before the deadline, Carroll issued a warning about the current wait times for people waiting until the last minute.
"There's a lot of procrastinators out there and our driver's license centers now have real serious issues with respect to a lot of folks showing up, even before the driver center opens," Carroll said. "We'll do our best to get you in and out of there quickly. And I'm hopeful that folks that don't have to go to the driver's license center that can take advantage of renewals online or via the mail, will take that opportunity."
Carroll said PennDOT is "being aggressive with respect to opening driver's license centers on Mondays, when we're traditionally closed."
"But 57 driver's licenses across the state will be open on Mondays through April and the first Monday in May," Carroll said, with the exception of Easter Monday, April 21, when the centers will be closed.
PennDOT's website lists which ones will be open those extra days.
"I hope that people take advantage of this opportunity," Carroll said.
He said the PennDOT website provides a checklist of the documents needed to bring with you to acquire the REAL ID, including if you had a name change during your life.
When acquiring a REAL ID, you're also renewing your driver's license at the same time, which means it costs $30 and the renewal fee.
"So, you'll renew your driver's license, you'll pay the $30 for the REAL ID in addition to your renewal fee, and then we add four years to your current license," Carroll said. "So, you could have a scenario where you have a license that's good for seven or even eight years, depending on when you re-newed."
"So you don't lose time on the current license that you have," he added. "We simply add four years to the license time that you've already paid for."
A Pennsylvanian can acquire a REAL ID after the deadline, but would not be able to fly commercially without the ID or passport.
In an effort to get the word out, Carroll said they have done events in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, with similar ones planned in Allentown, Erie, and Scranton leading up to the May 7 deadline.
"A lot of folks wait to the last minute, but that last minute is now," Carroll said. "We're about a month away from the deadline here."
Tuesday's update from Carroll is the first in a series of virtual events that will be held regularly in the weeks leading up to the start of the federal enforcement date.
Pennsylvania Capital-Star is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Pennsylvania Capital-Star maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Tim Lambert for questions: info@penncapital-star.com.
