Cooper nominee to head DOT paves the road toward confirmation

Governor Roy Cooper tapped Joey Hopkins to serve as Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) last September, but Wednesday was his first day before the Senate Transportation Committee that will vote on the appointment.

Hopkins, who has worked at NCDOT for more than 30 years in a variety of capacities, fielded numerous questions from senators worried about current and future challenges facing the state.

Like many other departments in state government this year, Hopkins told lawmakers that staffing remains a chief problem.

“We have just over 9,000 permanent employees and we have issues retaining our employees. We have issues hiring new employees,” Hopkins shared.

Hopkins said some departments might view a 20% vacancy rate as a win, but he’d be more comfortable if the rate were closer to 10 percent.

“You’ve got people retiring, you’ve got people getting promoted, people moving on to other jobs, but this is a struggle for our staff,” he said.

Hopkins said his people are working overtime above what’s considered normal.

“On top of that, it’s a mental impact to our employees. We had nine employees attempt suicide last year. It shouldn’t be any,” Hopkins told senators.

For those DOT employees that work by themselves because they’re in rural counties, Hopkins said they must do more to improve workplace safety and address quality of life issues.

Hopkins has asked Gov. Cooper to include funding in his budget to create permanent positions by converting unfilled temporary slots.

More EVs means more charging stations, but a decline in the motor fuel tax

With North Carolina being named one of the top states in the nation for clean energy, the NCDOT is working on a contract to install electric vehicle charging stations at 11 different sites across the state.

“We’ve got up to $109 million of federal dollars that we can spend on electric charging infrastructure. And for the most part, we can do that without a state match,” said Hopkins.

Volkswagen settlement money is helping the DOT in installing more charging infrastructure statewide, something that’s become increasingly important now that the state has 87,000+ registered EVs.

“Those people are gonna need a place to charge those electric vehicles. And they’re coming. It’s just a matter of how soon it gets here,” Hopkins said.

“I know for several of us on this committee, you can’t roll out the EV chargers fast enough,” said Sen. Julie Mayfield (D-Buncombe).

Sen. Bill Rabon noted that for years the ‘golden goose’ for maintaining roads has been the motor fuel tax, which has become less reliable with rising fuel economy standards and the growing popularity of electric vehicles.

“Going forward, we’re going to have to augment that, because eventually it will go away,” said Rabon. “Do you see or have suggestions, other than sales tax revenues?”

“There are states looking at mileage-based user fees. There are some people proposing a, like just a flat user fee, kind of like your cell phone,” said Hopkins. “But again, Senator, any of those that I think we look at, I think we got to look at the unintended consequences and really understand those before moving forward.”

DMV Commissioner under fire

The bumpiest part of Hopkins’ hearing came in a series of questions from Sen. Michael Lazzara.

The Onslow County Republican was still displeased by an incident in 2023 in which DMV Commissioner Wayne Goodwin told the Board of Transportation that he did not request legislation to extend the expiration date of driver’s licenses from eight years to 16 years, but that it was prompted by legislature.

“Since the DMV Commissioner serves at the pleasure of the Secretary, can you explain or talk about why he is allowed to remain in this important position after publicly lying to the Board of Transportation, the General Assembly and the press?” pressed Lazzara.

“Senator, I’ll answer by saying that was my first interaction with something like that, and I handled that between me and him, and he’s been apologetic for that, and he hasn’t done that since,” offered Hopkins. “So, we’re gonna’ continue to move forward as is for now.”

Hopkins said the DMV is working to improve customer service with self-serve kiosks at grocery stores in Raleigh, Charlotte and Fayetteville.

About 100 transactions are completed each week using the kiosks. It’s a slow start, but Hopkins said it’s helping manage long lines at some of the busier DMV offices.

The DMV is also using text messaging and email to remind motorists when they’ve made an appointment.

“If you go online many times, all of [the appointments] are booked or most of them are booked. If you have 30% no shows, that’s slots available that people could be using,” Hopkins acknowledged.

With the new technology, as soon as a motorist signs up for an appointment, they receive a text and email for confirmation.

“You have to respond to that pretty quickly or your appointment gets canceled,” he said.

Slow down! Read the sign!

Sen. Tim Moffitt (R-Henderson) said that while the DMV may get the lion’s share of complaints, he routinely hears from constituents upset about unexpected delays caused by road construction.

“When it comes to road and lane closures, there seems to be a lack of clear communication to the public on when and how that’s gonna’ happen. Do you have any thoughts on how you might be able to increase that transparency?” Moffitt asked.

Hopkins said social media and electronic message signs on the job site are some of the DOT’s best tools, but motorists often disregard those flashing messages and detour signs.

“I do it too. I don’t look at the signs in the area I’m familiar with. I just keep driving because I know where I’m going,” Hopkins said. “So that’s an issue for us. we need to learn how to get their attention to share that information with them so then they can use it to make an informed decision for themselves.”

On the distracted driving front, Hopkins said the state is having a problem with violent crashes.

With motorists driving faster, the number of crashes is higher than what the state experienced pre-pandemic.

“We’re having a huge issue with vulnerable road users, the pedestrians and bicyclists.”

To reduce those risks, NCDOT has installed about 300 “All-Way” stops signs at intersections across the state.

“I have All-Way stop near where I live. I’ve fussed at people sitting there not knowing what to do. But it’s safe. If there are crashes, they are fender benders,” Hopkins said.

Hopkins said the state has seen a 90% fatal crash reduction in areas where they’ve installed All-Way stops.

The Senate Transportation Committee is expected to hold a confirmation vote on Hopkins’ nomination at its next meeting.