Important News…

Highlights of the Latest Slugging News…

New Slug Lines Being Formed

A number of slugs and drivers are trying to develop new slug lines. Here are new or recently started lines::

• 14th and G St.  - An new slug line is forming at 14th and G St. on 3 Feb 03. The destination is for Route 17 Fredericksburg/Stafford as well as Rt 610.  See flyer or visit the webpage.

• 14th and F St.  - An new slug line is forming at 14th and F St. See webpage.

• Route 630 Line to Re-Started - The slug line at Route 630 started again on 2 Dec 02. Contact rachelkorinek@msn.com for details or see the new flyer. See .pdf flyer.

• 14th at Commerce Dept adds Line. The 234 Commuter Lot line is growing in popularity at 14th at Commerce Dept.  Now this location has three (3) lines supporting slugs. See 14th at Commerce Dept.

• Springfield Mall or Kingstowne Lines - There has been interest in starting a line east of the Bob's (aka Long John Silver) for quite some time. I really think these will work but we need somebody to take charge of getting these started!  See Springfield Mall messages or Kingstowne Alexandria messages

Great New Features added to the Website!

A number of upgrades and new features have been added to the website to handle the increasing number of visitors and to improve security! Here's just some of the upgrades:

• New "Slug Groups" - Slug-Lines.com now has automated mailing lists similar to Yahoo Groups! These automated lists are known as "Groups" or "list-server mailing lists" and allow you to subscribe (and unsubscribe) to a specific topic. Many slugs are using this system to coordinate ride homes. See Slug Groups.

• New Star Rating System - A new star rating system has been introduced to help evaluate slug lines!!  Hopefully this will help others determine which lines to use. Visit you favorite slug line web page and cast your vote! You can even leave comments to tell others the good (or bad) things about the line. See Slug Rating System.

To all the Slugs and Drivers, thanks for all the support!

  Other News…

• Robbery Attempt at Potomac Mills (15 Jan 03) - Please see the message board for details!

• Newspaper Article (14 Jan 03) - The Star-Ledger recently wrote an article about slugging as a method to help New York City's public transportation problem. Read Article.

• High-Occupancy Toll (HOT) Study could Impact Slugging (17 Jan 03)  - An article in the Washington Post on January 16th discussed a proposal being studies to charge a toll to lone drivers to use the HOV!  See message board for discussion!

• Robbery at the American Legion Commuter Lot (3 Jan 03) - I was notified by email of a robbery that took place on 30 Dec 02 at the American Legion Commuter Lot as a slug was walking to her car. See Message Board. 

• Lorton Road Parking Area to Re-Opened - The parking area off I-95 and Lorton Road re-opened in the later part of Oct 02. This has helped the Lorton sluggers!

• Ever Get Stranded at Work? - As you probably know, slugging does not operate 24 hrs a day. Fortunately, slugs don't have to get stranded thanks to Flexcar (www.Flexcar.com).

Some Stats:

• Message Board has over 500 active topics with  2591 posts in 5 forums

• 31 Lost and 15 Found items posted on the Lost and Found Section  See the list of items posted in January 2003 at the end of this newsletter.