Long commutes to work have become a routine for most people in metropolitan areas, with some commuters taking an hour to and from work daily.
Getting to work takes many forms: walking, bicycling, driving, taking mass transit or carpooling. Besides the aforementioned, there is a unexpected form of commuting especially popular in the Washington D.C. Metropolitan area called Slugging.
Slugging is a cheap way to get to work and back home.
Slugging is “unique because people commuting into the city stop to pickup other passengers even though they are total strangers!” said a Slug-Lines.com article.
The term slug was invented by bus drivers to describe people who wait at the bus stops to catch a free ride. Although other names were coined, including “hitch hike commuter,” the term conceived by the bus drivers is the one that stuck.
Slugging benefits the driver and passengers. The driver can use the High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane if there are three or more people in the car, saving time during rush hour. The passengers don’t have to buy gas or metro cards, saving money.
This type of commuting is surprisingly orderly, has well established rules, requires politeness and good manners, has fixed pickup and drop off points, is free and is used by thousands of D.C. Metropolitan commuters.
“It is the most efficient, cost-effective form of commuting in the nation,” according to Slug-Lines.com.
Launching Slug Lines
Slugging began in the D.C. area in the 1970s when HOV lanes were first introduced.
The Slug-Line article suggests slugging would not have become a household word for many D.C. commuters if it weren’t for the Arab oil embargo of 1973.
Due to the embargo the U.S. government wanted to reduce gasoline consumption and address environmental issues. As the price of gasoline soared HOV lanes were introduced to encourage carpooling.
In a way the embargo was a gift that helped American’s to become more conscientious regarding gas consumption and related environmental issues.
Guaranteed Ride Home
Commuters in D.C. are lucky in many ways. They not only have the slugging lines they also have the Guaranteed Ride Home (GRH) program, which is a free service.
The Capitol region’s Transportation Planning Board (TRB) introduced the GRH program in 1997 to assure that everyone has a guaranteed ride home during emergencies. However the program limits its free transportation to four rides a year.
According to the GRH guidelines, the “program may only be used in cases of unexpected personal or family emergency, unexpected illness, or unscheduled overtime.” www.mwcog.org/commuter2/commuter/grh/guidelines.html
There are a number of restrictions: it cannot be used to run personal errands or for emergency room visits. Also, the program is not available during building evacuations, transit disruptions, natural disasters, or federal holidays.
Under this program several different options are available, such as a rental car, public transit, a taxi or a combination of all these travel possibilities.
DC Transit Mode Share Trends
Slugging is a unique of way of commuting, and the GRH program helps commuters in times of need. But there are many other modes of transport available to Washingtonians.
To understand how Washingtonians use the different kinds of commuting opportunities CarpoolWorld released a commuting mode analysis for the week of October 28 through November 3.
Despite carpooling and mass transportation being promoted extensively, 47 percent of the Washington Metropolitan area commuters still drive themselves and 15.4 percent are members of a carpool.
Users of Mass transit are the second largest group, with 36.4 percent.
Cross County Commute
“The District is unique in that most workers — 72.4 percent in fact — live in a different state, with residents of Maryland and Virginia accounting for 70.4 percent of those who work in the city,” according to WAMU.
The U.S. Census Bureau reported in March that 540,000 people commute daily into D.C. This is the largest number of commuters going from one country to another in the United States.
The Census Bureau report was based on 2011 data, the most recent year for which data is available.
In addition, over 77,000 D.C. residents commute out to the surrounding metropolitan areas.
About 12 per of D.C. residents work outside the District according to 2012 Census data. The average travel time for D.C area commuters is around 30 minutes.
Commuting in the Washington D.C. Metropolitan area is not an exact science, but D.C commuters looking for an alternative to driving have a wide range of options available to them.
The Commuter Connections website publishes a list of commuter programs available to Washington area commuters.
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