Slugging: Riding in Cars with Strangers
Paul Williamson, executive secretary, Physical Evaluation Board, is a self-described "control freak." So it's no wonder that he doesn't mind being a slug driver and picking up slugs on his way to and from work at the Pentagon each day. He likes to be in charge of his own destiny.
"If there's going to be a car crash, I want to be the guy behind the wheel," Williamson said.
Although he has commuted to work by planes, trains, and automobiles in the past, his current preferred method is to participate in what Northern Virginians refer to as slugging or "casual carpooling. He's been picking up complete strangers at VDOT's Commuter Lot in Stafford and giving them a lift to the Pentagon for four years. It's not because he's a good Samaritan. He just wants to get to work more quickly, and he wants to drive his own
car to do so. Picking up slugs allows him to ride in the High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes that are not as congested as other lanes.
"It changes my commute time from 1 ½ hours to 50 minutes, Williamson said. "It puts me in the express lane, but nothing more ever really comes of it.
Although Williamson has received a job offer from a slug who hopped into
his car one day, he says there have not been many other long-term benefits. He hasn't forged any lasting friendships, nor has anyone ever suggested starting a permanent carpool. In fact, one of the "unspoken rules of slugging is that you don't talk in the car unless the driver initiates conversation first. Also, slugs are often happy to slug.
"One woman I met has been slugging for 17 years, Williamson said. "Even though the rule is no talking, I'm an animated person and like to engage people in conversation. In fact, I thought it would be interesting to write a book called, The Slug Master. The driver would transport the rider to a dimension where they could explore a problem and come out on the other side with the problem resolved.
Williamson's day begins around 6 a.m. when he picks up slugs at a commuter lot in Stafford at exit 143. There are three such slug lines within a 10-mile radius in Stafford County. The 41-mile commute ends at the Pentagon. The round trip continues in the afternoon when Williamson picks up slugs at the Pentagon at about 4 p.m. and heads back to the Stafford commuter lot.
Williamson follows his own set of slug etiquette rules. "If there is a long line in inclement weather, I take
as many as I can carry, but typically there are a bunch of drivers looking for riders.
When Williamson pulls up to the Stafford slug line, he shouts out Pentagon, and the next riders in line pile in.
"Some drivers have signs, but it's usually dark and you can't see anyway, he said. "Occasionally there is a barker in line, and he repeats the destination so everyone can hear.
Williamson, who is originally from South Dakota, is fascinated by the volume of people traveling along Virginia's highways.
"You have more cars go through the Springfield Interchange in one day than there are registered vehicles in the whole state of South Dakota.
Factoid
VDOT creates "rideshare" waiting areas for bus riders that also end up being used for slug traffic. The VDOT lot in Stafford, for example, has a covered kiosk waiting area.
VDOT's position on slugging
"Slugs play a major role in the success of our HOV lanes, particularly in the I-95/I-395 corridor, said Valerie Pardo, transportation planning, Northern Virginia.
"In 1999 we did an extensive study on potential impacts of changing the required HOV lane occupancy from three to two in the I-95 corridor, which included collecting some data on people involved in the practice of slugging and picking up slugs. At that time, we estimated that upwards of 3,000 commuters slug to work in the morning, with about two thirds slugging in the evening return trip and one third taking transit.
The report estimates that "approx. 25 percent of the vehicles on the HOV lanes south of the Pentagon during the AM HOV-restricted period have at least one slug in the vehicle."
"This is quite a significant figure, considering that they potentially are taking up to 3,000 cars off the road (if they all were to drive to work instead of slugging), Pardo said.
For details on the data collected as part of this effort, click here. The slug information is on pages 15 to 18
For more on slugging, click here.
