Spent some time at the DMV this morning and noticed the odd distribution of service numbers. I was given number 539. There were about ten clerks, each had a digital sign that displayed the number they were currently serving.
There seemed to be about 3 different groups; one in the 100’s, one in the 500’s and one in the 800’s. So as the numbers were called, they would come sequentialy for two or three in a row, and then go to a different seed group.
Why?
My guess was that this is a method of easing tension in the crowd. A person who gets ticket #777 may be set to go off by the time they hear the count up to their number from say 550 or so. This method throws in a confusion factor to someone in the waiting room listening to the numbers as they are called. and makes it difficult to predict when they are up. -That’s my guess anyway.
Different number sequences are used for people with different business. The Driver’s license renewers, for instance, might have 400’s, and 400’s are only called when there is an empty spot at the DL window. Then a 600 will be called, and sent to the “new car registration” window, and a 300 will be called to the “new license plate” window. The numbers probably recycle in a range of 200 or 300 for each category.
Not sure what state you’re in, but the last time I was at a California DMV office, the different queues were sorted out by an alpha prefix. On that particular day, having an appointment for vehicle registration got me an “H” number. I wasn’t payaing attention to the other queues, but the H queue was being handled sequentially
I’m just guessing at categories such as license testing, auto road tests, motorcycle road tests and registration, all further sorted to with or without appointments.