Where are the drivers to P. Mills?
Printed From: Slug-Lines.com
Category: General Slugging Questions and Comments
Forum Name: Afternoon Slug Lines
Forum Description: Enter comments on slug lines leaving the city in the afternoon here.
URL: http://www.slug-lines.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=156
Printed Date: 25 Nov 2024 at 2:24pm
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Topic: Where are the drivers to P. Mills?
Posted By: Bslug
Subject: Where are the drivers to P. Mills?
Date Posted: 09 Jul 2002 at 8:10am
Slugging from 14th and New York has become a nightmare. No one seems to be going to Potomac Mills anymore. Last couple of weeks there have been two occassions where I had to wait in excess of 30 minutes before a ride came along.
It seems that drivers using that route prefer to go to Horner. I have yet to experience the same problem at Rosslyn or the Pentagon. Which I now have to reluctantly take the metro to inorder to get home on time.
Has anyone else experienced the same problem from 14th and New York?
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Replies:
Posted By: mol
Date Posted: 10 Jul 2002 at 7:52am
Although I don't slug from 14th and New York, and no longer slug from Pr. Wm. County, from talking with people, there are quite a few drivers who pick up in the morning at Potomac Mills, but prefer Horner Rd. in the evening. One of the reasons is that from Horner they can get immediately onto I95, and Potomac Mills is more of a hassle. Because, at least a while ago, the Potomac Mills lines ran later than Horner's, drivers at later times (after 7:00a.m.) could get riders easily from Potomac, but not from Horner. Unfortunately, they are not thinking how this impacts the slugging system from that location when there are so many drivers picking up at one place in the a.m. and dropping off at another place in the p.m.
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Posted By: cameronj
Date Posted: 11 Jul 2002 at 10:52am
Newbie question - I have never done this slug thing before, but I am going to VA beach from Arlington this friday (7/12) right after work. From research I've found that the best place to pick up people who need to ride past the end of the HOV on 395/95 is Pentagon. Can anyone confirm or refute that? I'm not exactly positive about how to get where I need to be, though. Should I go through Crystal City to get to Fern St? I don't know the Pentagon area very well, so any help is greatly appreciated.
Also, my experience tells me that the HOV lanes on 395 do move pretty quickly compared to the regular lanes on Friday. I've been in the traffic twice and both times that was the case. Can anyone confirm that it is generally true? Accidents of course notwithstanding.
Thanks!
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Posted By: setterpup
Date Posted: 11 Jul 2002 at 7:44pm
If you want to take riders to Dumfries or Stafford, Pentagon is a good place to pick up slugs. However, if you exit at Dumfries or near Quantico (where the HOV lanes end), expect to sit in horrendous traffic on a Friday in the summer.
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Posted By: cameronj
Date Posted: 12 Jul 2002 at 10:09am
I noticed that in one past experience. After sitting in the regular lanes for a long long time, my brother and I decided to finally say screw it, risk the ticket, and jump onto the HOV lanes. 1 mile at 80 MPH (Wooo!) and suddenly we're stopped and the regular lines are going! AIEEE! Any advice? Should I hop out of the HOV lane before the end of the line? Obviously it does not matter to me where my riders are going, just as long as I save the most time. Is there a destination that will yeild me a better "traffic profile?"
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Posted By: Par
Date Posted: 12 Jul 2002 at 11:41am
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I would suggest staying in the HOV lanes. It is extremely rare that you can make better time by getting off at any point, even if the regular lanes at a certain area are going faster. The vast majority of the time, the HOV lanes are not clogged and those points where the regular lanes are going faster is quite brief. The loss of time comes at the back up at the merge into the regular lanes where the HOV lanes end just south of Dumfries. I've even tried getting off there and taking Route 1 - bad choice - that takes far longer if you are continuing south. But, anyway, my experience has been that you will kick yourself if you get off of the HOV lanes.
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Posted By: cameronj
Date Posted: 12 Jul 2002 at 11:50am
OK, probably true. Now to a more important question - what time is too late to arrive at the pentagon to hope to pick up passengers for Fredericksburg or other points south of the HOV end?
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Posted By: Mit
Date Posted: 12 Jul 2002 at 12:22pm
The Rt. 17 and 610 lines almost always have folks still waiting for rides at 6:00pm. Folks are about then deciding whether to head over towards the bus lines because single drivers can get on the HOV at 6pm and fewer drivers come by. I generally pull up about 5:45-5:50pm and I can almost always count on plenty of people still in line. There have been a few unexplicable days where there weren't many people in line, even earlier than 6pm (never figured that out because it wasn't a holiday) but within minutes someone would come up.
So, as a driver, it has been only every once in a blue moon that I would have to wait for riders, but it was always been worth it (alternative of being in the regular lanes is the pits)even if you don't get on the HOV lanes until a few minutes 'til 6pm, you still do better than trying the regular lanes. It will be slower than if you get on HOV earlier, but it still beats the regular lanes. Singles drivers can enter into the HOV lanes at several different points at 6pm, and that slows down the HOV lanes. Also, on Fridays it seems like a lot of people like to drive in, so on many Fridays, the lines of riders are not as long. So, I would say 6pm is the latest, ALTHOUGH, I have seen a few folks still in line close to 6:30pm - only one or two though.
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