610 jumping

Slugging is an informal, unregulated system of organized hitch-hiking. The rules are that there are no rules - just common courtesies. There are suggestions as to how people should behave posted on this site, for those who need to be told.

That being said, these high gas prices, the end of hybrid exemptions, etc. as bringing out slugs in record numbers.

Drivers get frustrated when the lines don't move due to people not being on-the-ball. This morning for example, (twice) a man 5 or so back in line was walking up to the cars to see where they were going (because the first 4 idiots wouldn't move their butts). He became a will call for me and got a ride ahead of space-cadets 1 through 4).

When drivers get frustrated by a non-moving line, when there are plenty of slugs, they will get creative. Alternate paths, alternate pickup techniques (including body-snatching).

610 is particularly problematic since there are so many slugs there. I've sat as the first car in line, while 10 slugs stood in the cold, all because they wanted Rosslyn instead of the Pentagon. None of them were walking back more than one or two cars to find out where the rest of the cars were going.

Pentagon is obviously the easiest slug destination. Somewhere along 14th seems like the second. If you're able to get a ride to one of those destinations, take it and use the metro or bus for the rest of the trip.

If you think of it from a drivers perspective, you will understand. Hauling slugs saves me 15 minutes. If I spend 15 trying to pick up slugs, I have not benefitted. I may as well have sat in SOV lanes, where I would have been free to have a couple of smokes, and listened to my radio, and chatted on my cell phone, etc.



Keep slugging alive - tip your driver today!

The "old" lot has always been a bit confusing due to its size and multiple destinations. If you are having such a bad time picking up slugs there, try the Mine road lot. There are only two lines, which via suggestions from this web site, was split from one about a year ago, to help curb the DC/Pentagon area confusion. Sorry for your bad experience.

GMHP was hea!

NOT so smooth in the afternoon when all the vehicles are illegally parked and blocking the aisles.

NoSb

SOV because you can, HOV because you care!

Don't they ticket the bejeezus out of illegal parkers? At Horner, if you look with desire at an unpainted, unmarked curb spot, one where you won't block anybody or impede traffic, you get a ticket for impure thoughts.

What you're describing may be troublesome, but at least you all are maximizing the number of vehicles taken off the road and extending the slug pick-up time closer to 9:00.

I'd trade that for Horner, which is full by 7:10.

Sometimes it almost takes a spotter to direct me thru the narrow space left to get between the illegally parked vehicles. Don't know if it's justifiable to break the law in order to support slugging/commuting though--just doesn't ring true as being "right".

Sponge, the enforcement comes and goes in both lots. I think they wait until folks' habits are into parking illegally and then they get to issue a massive amount of tickets to make it worth their while monetarily to enforce (all of that is supposition, nothing to substantiate that claim).

Yes GMHP, there are a required number of handicapped parking spaces in a given sized parking lot. Thing is, like at Target, they're all concentrated so it does look like a larger number than if they were dispersed. It's not like it would do much good to put all the handicapped spaces the furthest away from the store. True, we wouldn't notice them if they were further away from the store entrances, but then it would be a bit counter-purpose to do that don'tcha think? (couldn't find the code that addresses parking lots for you, sorry)

Placing the handicapped spaces in the commuter lots does the same, concentrates them in our line-of-sight as we get to walk past them all the time and become acutely aware of them when not in use.

NoSb

SOV because you can, HOV because you care!