Lines from Woodbridge to Springfield

Shani93, as a matter of fact, I once had to drive all the way to the city to drop off a slug, take my daughter to my mother in law's in Springfield and return to Horner Rd. to park my car. I left home around 6:45am and I got to Horner Rd. around 8:15am. Never tried to do that again. It would be nice to know that there is a slug line Woodbridge-Springfield just in case I'm in the need of doing that again.

Who determines the slug line availability and who would I need to contact to suggest such a line from Woodbridge to Springfield. I am sure there are plenty of people that would go to Springfield Metro and for the individuals working not quite in the city, going to Springfield Metro would lessen their travel time in the morning.

Shani Davis
Woodbridge, VA

Shani93,
I'm interested in driving slugs from Woodbridge to the Springfield Metro. Are you looking to drive or ride?

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My intentions are to go to the appropriate person(s) and find out how to get the lines established.

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There is no one person who establishes a line--lines rise and fall by whether there are people out there who feel that it would be a useful service, and on whether people view the location as reliable. There is no way for one person to "establish" a line by fiat if other people don't also feel that it would be worthwhile.

For example, the line at Bob's in Springfield has been around for years because drivers know they can count on finding people there to pick up, which in turn causes riders to know that they can count on finding a ride. In contrast, there's been an effort to start a line at Springfield Mall (across I-95); presumably, some of the riders and drivers for Springfield Mall would come from Bob's, but the problem is that the riders are reluctant to go there because they're afraid that the drivers won't go there, and if the drivers show up and find no riders, they don't go back because they don't want to waste time, so then any riders who DO go there have trouble getting a ride and they don't come back either.

If your friend wants to start a line from Woodbridge to Springfield, the thing to do would be to figure out, first, is there a base of people in Woodbridge who commute to Springfield; second, does that base include a mixture of people who drive (who will become the drivers who pick up the sluggers) and people who use other methods (the bus or the VRE, for example) because the people who use other methods will become the riders (i.e., the sluggers); third, what's a good pickup point in Woodbridge that will still preserve the riders' access to public transport if they can't get a ride (so you need to be near the bus or the VRE); and fourth, what's a good place in Springfield to drop riders in the morning and pick them up later?

Then your friend has to get word to the people who commute from Woodbridge to Springfield. A slug line is no good if the commuters don't know about it! Posting flyers at the VRE station and the bus stop might be a good way to start, assuming that the management allows it (I can see why they might not--a slug line would take away business). This web page might help a bit, but I would wager that most potential users of a Woodbridge-to-Springfield line don't read this board because they have no reason to. Then cross your fingers and hope people like the idea!

If anyone is interested, I'd like to start a carpool from Woodbridge to Springfeild or Alexandria and back. I would like to meet anywhere in Woodbridge around 6:45am and then in Sprinfield around 5:15pm. Thanks! We would be taking my car everyday.