As I walk my 2 and a half blocks from my office to the commuter train I take, I pass at least 10 or so people a day walking down the sidewalk with me carrying large pieces of laminated paper with the words "Potomac Mills" or "Tackett's Mill, Woodbridge" among other destinations on them.
A car pulls up on the side.. honks.. and this person jumps into the back or front seat of the vehicle and they speed off-
This is what we refer too as the "Slug lane". The place in the city where people who are looking for rides home stand and wait for the people who are driving to pick them up- why do they do this? Because of the HOV Lanes that impose regulations on how many people must be in a car- "HOV" standing for "Human Occupied Vehicle" OR "High Occupancy vehicle" depending on what city you are in. The rules that must be followed in these are that a number is on the sign designating the amount of people that must be in a car during the HOV times and the times themselves- usually 3-7:30 for rush hour in the evenings.
For more than 20 years, thousands of D.C.-area solo commuters have engaged in this semi-organized form of hitchhiking designed to cut commuting by half during rush hours.
So what are some of the rules? Sluggers don't speak unless spoken to; they don't talk about money, sex, politics or other controversial topics; they don't smoke, eat, use cellphones or request a favorite radio station.They don't offer gas money, and there's no door-to-door service. They get dropped off at commuter stations in their designated areas-
Sluggers almost always ride with another slugger or two, and they are encouraged not to leave female sluggers alone on line.However I have seen women jump in cars alone just as men do on my walk to the train.
Its the grass roots answer in this area to the high congestion and bad traffic patterns- and it seem to work well. Even police and officials recognize it and accept it for what it is..and don't consider it "hitchhiking"
I, personally, don't know that I would be able to do it- but is there anyone out there who has had similar experiences with this kind of commuting?
Tequila Rose
2 Comments
Hey you know AdGuy always gets the last word! ;)