Slugging to Work: Anonymous Ride-Sharing

[ckramer]

Source: npr

In a few cities, like Washington, D.C., formerly lone motorists can zip over into those HOV lanes thanks to a rare breed of commuter called a "slug." And with gas prices through the roof there's now an extra incentive to do it.

By 7 a.m., at a non-descript parking lot in suburban Virginia, the line of blue and grey business suits stretches down the sidewalk. Men and women stand quietly, patiently waiting their turn.

Read more: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90700559

[truthisfreedom]

1. More better.

Good on them!

[dipsydoodle]

2. the "caller" in slug parlance

Is this done to music like a barn dance ?

[ikojo]

3. I heard about this happening in California

a few years ago.

[Retrograde]

6. but this is the East

which everybody *knows* is more important /sarcasm

Yeah, it's been happening in the San Francisco area for decades: there are places in Berkeley where you can get picked up be commuters trying to fill up so they can avoid the $4 bridge toll. It's just a way of life here. But let something like this happen in DC or NYC and right away it's news.

Just like shark attacks, and the high gas prices that the rest of the country has finally caught up with.

[CreekDog]

10. Bay Area calls it "casual carpool"

people line up at unofficial spots in the East Bay (Oakland and other) areas and cars drive up and pick up 2 people in order to use the carpool lanes on the Bay Bridge, as they exit the bridge in SF, there's a stoplight at Howard where most of them get out of the cars.

for the commute home, most people ride the bus or BART (train), casual carpool mostly speeds and cheapens the drive in, it doesn't speed the ride home in the same way (no tolls and no backup to avoid going back).

[BigDaddy44]

4. This isn't a new thing

They've had the slug lines in DC for at least 25 years

[hootinholler]

5. Yep. The name slug came from bus drivers...

People were lining up at bus stops and waiting for rides, not getting on the bus. The drivers started calling them slugs, as in fake coins, they are fake (bus) passengers.

-Hoot

[ckramer]

7. That's interesting n/t

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

8. Dammit, I'm old enough to remember anonymous sex...

This is so much less fun than that...

[damntexdem]

9. That's long been the custom in the East Bay.

Line up at the BART station for a free ride across the bridge into the City -- and the driver gets to use a HOV lane onto the bridge.

A little ironic that it's at BART stations; but the trains are also full in the mornings, running into SF.

[6th Borough]

11. Someone "slugging" here would be robbed/raped/ killed within a fortnight.

"Here" being the Ft. Lauderdale - Miami metro area.

[librechik]

12. I wondered where "fortnight" was common parlance in the US

somewhere that was also a high crime area.

John D. MacDonald was right!

[ovidsen]

13. "Slugging" has been popular in the DC area for decades

I used to live in Crystal City, Arlington, Virginia, roughly in between the Pentagon and National Airport. Because of it's location, shagging rides from strangers and waiting in line to do it (slugging) is commonplace. The rationale is simple, By having 2 or 3 people in your vehicle, you're legal for the HOV lanes. Secondly, because the terminus of the slug trip is usually someplace where public transit (especially the Metro) just isn't there, it's in an easy way to get to the parking lot (well beyond the Beltway) where you parked your car that morning. There are strict, but unwritten rules concerning slugging. Surprisingly, virtually everyone sticks to them.

Slug-lines.com

As far as I know , there has not been a single assault, robbery, rape, or other violent crime since "slug lines" first started being formed on their own around 1990. As you can see, they now have heir own web sites. And the government has absolutely nothing to do with them.

(spelling edits)

[blitzen]

14. A "slug" saved me from being stuck in traffic for several hours....

a few weeks ago I had to go to Fredericksburg, VA for work and was picked up by an airport limo. The driver said we were going to the Pentagon to pick up a slug. I said nothing, since it seemed like a reasonable place to find slugs. On the way she explained to me the whole deal, how if we had another rider we could cruise in the carpool lines. We picked up two slugs and saved at least 3 or 4 hours.

[KamaAina]

15. If you're not wearing a suit and tie, it's called "hitchhiking".

:eyes: