Some more slug questions from your friends at IU

Which is more important information to you:
a.) The trustworthiness of the driver
b.) The trustworthiness of the sluggers you ride with
c.) Both are equally important

Why did you pick that answer?

If a system based on previous feedback could deem a driver or a rider untrustworthy, and notify you before you got in the car or picked up a slugger, would you listen to the system?

If a system assigned trust ratings to sluggers, which characteristic would be more important in that rating? Trustworthiness based on feedback or how long the person has been slugging?

I tend to agree with sluDgE, but I am also a driver, not a slug. My perception is that slugs would like to know if there is a bad driver. But as a driver, I'm not sure what trustworthiness of a slug means?


(and I know you're from out of town, but they aren't sluggers, they are slugs)

Many of you are inquiring why we are asking about the trustworthiness of drivers. The goal of our research is to design a system which will create more slugs. We have seen posts on this message forum about dangerous drivers and this led us to believe that trust might be an issue with the system.

However, the real reason for our focus on trust deals with our goal to get new slugs using the system. Most current slugs trust the system, but the business professionals from the Washington D.C. area that we have spoken with have continually expressed a fear of riding to work with a complete stranger. Our solution is more designed towards getting new slugs and helping them trust the system rather than currents slugs who already know it is trustworthy.

Have any of you ever ridden with a rookie slug? Has this person ever expressed any nervousness or issues with trust with the system?

Thanks,

IU Friends

I am not surprised that you have honed in on this issue as a possible ‘fix point’. In the last year the top nine most viewed subjects on this website – in General Slugging Topics- have been: 1) The “Do Not Ride With List” (20,591 views), 2) Time to Start Tipping (6436 views), 3) Asking to Take Three (3720 views), 4) HOV Violators (3578 views), 5) FOR DO NOT RIDE WIT LIST (2652 views), 6) Do Not Ride With! (2267 Views), 7) Hi (2101 views), 8) Drop off Point (2041 views), 9) Slugs to Avoid (1983 views).

That’s an incredible 29,954 views of people not trusting other people (I’ve included the “Hi” topic simply because that much anger and racial/religious bigotry can’t possibly further trust of fellow man and thereby is defaulted to this category.)

How is it that we are surprised when outsiders look at our message board and assume that trust, of and by, those who utilize the system is of critical importance? Out of all that we could talk about, those are the topics that we imply are the most important to us by simply addition. Our IU Friends are obviously postulating their hypothesis based on inferred concepts drawn from our own data.

To provide an answer to our IU Friends: I would not trust Bobby Knight behind the wheel after IU (or now TT) had lost a game… many anger issues with that young man. But I digress… on to slugging:

Once again I will put forward that all of these posts about “Do Not Ride…” etc., are not a valid reference for the slugging community. Perception is a funny thing. Then its not so funny when it turns into a witch hunt and before you know it the slugging community is riled up about an individual for no reason other than the poor guy spilled coffee in his lap and swerved over the line a bit, or drives a jaguar a little fast, or maybe goes too slow because she’s a lonely old lady.

Look… it’s like anything else – unless you live in a bubble on your own private island in some remote, desolate location – you are always at risk. Slugging is simply not the risk than say skydiving is. And even when you skydive wouldn’t you research the sport or company even to ensure that you understood the risks? Maybe check out the safety record of the company before forking over the cash to jump out of a craft that didn’t necessitate the act in the first place?

Well the same can be said for slugging. Most newbies may harbor some trepidation about jumping in with both feet to the ‘sport’ of slugging. But there are enough sluggers (you see – you can use the term if you are referring to both riders and drivers) around to gather information from, that most newbies don’t go in totally oblivious to the concept.

I think slugging would be better served by researching the historically favorable material attesting to the lack of incidents related to slugging. That information could be put forth to minimize or alleviate potential fears of prospective participants.

Its still gathering statistical information for you purposes and I would even say that there are some very able ‘research assistants’ right here on this site. Some of these sleuths uncover articles and information related to slugging- past, present, and future – and I go away stymied as to how.

Kudos to them, to you, and good day.

Has there ever been a crime committed in connection with Slugging?

As far as I know (which ain't far, I'll admit,) there has never been a kidnapping, a rape, a robbery, or an assault among slugs and sluggees. That is a pretty darn good record.

It took me a couple of months to convince my wife to slug -- I think security was always the issue for her. Now she slugs or drives slugs several times a week without any concern.

I don't think there is a way to brand bad drivers or slugs -- I've warned others slugs about the mustachioed guy in the decrepit old white Taurus station wagon with the broken speedometer -- a really bad, bad driver, too -- and they shrug and hop right in his doomed crashmobile. Impatient late slugs don't seem to put much credence in warnings.

If your research is intended to boost the number of slugs, it is pretty easy to do: expand the dang parking lots! Improve the range, number, and routes of the Omniride and other buses into DC and reduce the busfare to $1 with government subsidies. Run the buses into all the new subdivisions.

(Why do I mention buses? Because buses are the backbone of the slugging system: they provide the gathering spots for the best functioning sluglines, and guarantee you will get to work or home if there is a shortage of drivers.)

With more bus stops, cheaper fares, and more direct routes to more parts of DC, more people will ride the bus, and bus riders are future slugs.