Fresno Olive Avenue DMV image via the State of California

If you have trouble getting to a Department of Motor Vehicles office during the week or after work, a new option will be available starting June 16.

That’s when 40 DMV offices across California, among them two in Fresno and Clovis, will begin opening two Saturdays a month.

The offices at 655 W. Olive Ave. in Fresno and 2103 Shaw Ave. in Clovis will open from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Jan. 16 and 23, and then all 40 field offices will open the first and third Saturday of each month — at least for the near future.

Starting in January 2015, the DMV offered Saturday hours for 10 months, and did so again at 60 field offices from late January of this year through late March to handle the added workload of people coming in to apply for the new Real ID drivers licenses and identification cards, which the federal government will require people to have — in lieu of other government-approved documents — to fly on commercial aircraft starting Oct. 1, 2020, said Artemio Armenta, a DMV spokesman.

A press release from the agency states that the Saturday hours are being provided to reduce big lines at DMV offices during the week, and customers will be able to walk in — though the DMV encourages people to schedule appointments for services — and do most of the business they could do on weekdays except taking behind-the-wheel driving exams.

No DMV offices in Madera, Kings or Tulare are on the list of those offering Saturday hours.

State Assemblyman Jim Patterson, R-Fresno, states in a press release that there has been growing outrage amid the general public and lawmakers over the long waits at DMV offices, some lasting four or five hours.

“This is a small step forward but it’s not nearly enough,” he said of the new Saturday hours. “We are going to keep the pressure on the DMV until these outrageous wait times disappear. That’s the DMV’s responsibility and it’s what they’ve been given millions of dollars to do.”