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Slug-a-lug

NPR had a story last week on a social networking site targeting carpoolers. GoLoco is a service “that helps people and communities create their own personal public transportation network. Your cars, your friends, your trips, your expenses — GoLoco puts them all together for a seamless way to share travel and expenses.” This sounds like a great idea especially in the world we live in with higher gas prices. But I’ve heard of better. Slugging is a grass roots organization in Washington DC that can best be described as ‘instant carpooling’.

It started back around the early ‘70s when the DC/Northern Virginia area first received their HOV (high occupancy vehicle) lanes. Drivers needed at least 2 other passengers to use these express lanes or pay fines. To combat this, a driver would drive up to a bus stop and ask any of the people waiting if they wanted a ride. What do you do when you it’s cold (or hot) outside, the bus is late and you know it will be crowded -Take the bus vs. get a free ride? People started taking drivers up on the offer and word spread starting the phenomenon. The first lines started up in Northern Virginia and ended at the Pentagon with other routes quickly following. (The ingredients that make slugging successful are: parking, a bus stop (or other mass transit), and easy access to the HOV.)

While it is a grass roots organization, rules and etiquette do apply. There are rules about passengers talking (not unless the driver talks to them), changing the radio station (or heat, A/C) rolling down a window and using seat belts. Other rules include leaving a woman in line by herself. (She either gets the ride or people wait with her) and most of all, Thank You’s are exchanged by driver and passenger, money is not.

When I first heard about slugging it sounded crazy yet kind of a neat idea. (Speaking of crazy, here are crazy stories shared by crazy sluggers.) Seeing it in action is pretty amazing. Next time you visit DC and see a line of people at the edge of a supermarket parking lot or on the side of a road during rush hour, just remember that they’re not crazy, they’re slugs.