 In Virginia,
many drivers eager to gain access to High Occupancy Vehicle
lanes cruise commuter bus stops where people wait in line for
a lift into Washington, picking up about 10,000 riders each
day, a custom so popular that officials have increased
parking-lot capacity at major bus stops. There is even a
neologism to describe it, slugging, and a social code
for slugs: only the driver may initiate conversation; slugs
may not smoke, eat or fiddle with the radio. Some Virginia
transportation officials assert that slugging has
improved the system. Where early efforts at carpooling failed,
the ad hoc nature of slugging has a flexibility that
drivers and passengers enjoy. And by reducing the crowding on
buses, slugging increases the appeal of public transit.
—Randy Cohen, "The Ethicist," The New York
Times, December 14, 2003
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