Save money and cut your commute by 'slugging'
Posted
Aug 22 2008, 05:14 PM
by
Ryan MacClanathan
Rating:
"Slugging" an impromptu form of hitchhiking/car pooling is quickly
becoming the hottest way to travel in our nation's capital. The practice allows
commuters to save money, time and the environment by driving in a car-pool
lane.
The catch -- you must be willing to share your car with a stranger.
Matt at the GreenUpgrader
describes this simple concept:
- Drivers line up in a
designated area.
- The drivers pull up to the
line of people waiting for a ride and hold out signs with their destination or shout it out to the
first person in line.
- If that person isn't heading
to that destination, he or she shouts it out to the rest of the line and
the first two people going that way jump into the car.
The practice is nothing new in Washington,
D.C., according to this
post by Steve Elderidge at CommuterPageBlog,
but it's attracting media attention and a lot of new converts hoping to cut
their fuel bill.
"One of the main reasons that this idea works so well in this region is
that so many of the people looking for rides work at the same places as those
who are looking for passengers to qualify for the, usually, faster HOV lanes,
Elderidge writes. "If it weren't for the Pentagon or the Department of
Agriculture or Energy then there probably wouldn't be any slug lines. Government
workers, particularly the military, are a tight-knit group that tends to trust
one another."
There's even a Web site where slugging
etiquette is laid out and would-be sluggers can organize. One of the rules:
Sluggers can't fiddle with the radio or heater.
During my daily morning commute I (slowly) pass a bus shelter that's often
crammed with mass-transit riders waiting in the cold. Many times I've been
tempted to pull over and shout, "Anyone need a ride to Redmond?" Maybe if the practice of
slugging spreads to other cities, I won't get frightened looks if I try it. It
must be a little too much like hitchhiking for many people.
Call me naive, but I think the dangers of hitchhiking are wildly exaggerated. As the cost of gasoline goes up, I'm willing to bet it becomes a
more popular form of transportation, and there's the idea of high-tech hitchhiking to
consider.
Would you give a stranger a ride just to save some time and money? Is
slugging practiced in your city? Let us know.
