Late Night Slug Sites....
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Category: General Slugging Questions and Comments
Forum Name: General Slugging Topics
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URL: http://www.slug-lines.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=6030
Printed Date: 29 Apr 2024 at 6:01am
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Topic: Late Night Slug Sites....
Posted By: colossus911
Subject: Late Night Slug Sites....
Date Posted: 16 Dec 2014 at 2:13pm
So, trying to think how to start slugging past the current 6 pm time frame. Figuring that the need for drivers to get south in the HOT lanes will now last until at least 7 pm, should we focus a few PM spots as key pick ups (I.e. L'Enfant, or 14th and Penn) with the appeal to drivers who are leaving late (say 6:30) to "try a drive by" in hopes of finding people going south at that time.
Or is this just fantasy thinking?
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Replies:
Posted By: DC2RV
Date Posted: 17 Dec 2014 at 7:40am
Interesting idea. Over time, this may develop "organically", but for now it might make sense to identify some spots that provide easy access to the HOV/HOT lanes for drivers, but also provides a convenient backup for riders (as in someplace they can easily access Metro or other transportation options).
The Pentagon seems like a logical location to me.
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Posted By: eao
Date Posted: 17 Dec 2014 at 10:00am
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I agree that the Pentagon would be good. I was speaking with someone in line this morning; he said he will often go to the Pentagon well after 6 pm and find people waiting. I only drive one day a week, sadly it is often Friday, and would like to be able to pick up riders when I head home after 6 pm.
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Posted By: MDC
Date Posted: 18 Dec 2014 at 7:48am
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I think that there's enough incentive for drivers, that the afternoon slugs will be able to find rides outside the times they do now at their normal locations. How far that extends will certainly depend on how the express lanes affect traffic in the main lanes. It seems logical to me that the main lanes will be considerably worse than they are currently outside the HOV window once the tolling is in effect.
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Posted By: USA
Date Posted: 30 Dec 2014 at 1:52pm
Suggestion: This issue might be one that provides a good reason for drivers to start a conversation with riders even if that's traditionally been taboo. Express an interest in picking up slugs after 6:00 and ask your riders if they are interested in slugging after that time frame or, if they're not, whether they know of people who are. Word might get around. I think the key is communication because it's obviously a two-way street: Drivers need to be able to expect they stand a reasonable chance of finding riders if they're going to take the time to go to the slug lines, but riders also need to expect they'll find drivers coming to pick them up.
This week is obviously non-standard, but I think hillnva is right that traffic in the local lanes south of Turkeycock will be heavier than in the past once things return to normal on Monday, thus making it all that much more important for people to pick up slugs.
I wonder if you could find some riders at a place like the Springfield Metro stop if you struck out at the Pentagon. The easiest way to get there is, of course, to pay the toll to the Franconia-Springfield Parkway. I don't know whether any of the commuter buses from further south stop at that Metro stop, but if they do, perhaps you could pull in there and solicit riders waiting for the bus? While on the one hand it's fair to assume some of the bus riders are people uncomfortable with the idea of slugging, it's also fair to figure some of them might be people who wanted to slug but thought they wouldn't get a ride after 6:00.
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Posted By: eao
Date Posted: 31 Dec 2014 at 9:19am
The only commuter bus that stops at S-field Metro is the PRTC. The commuter buses from Stafford and Fredericksburg make the Pentagon their last stop.
There is a Yahoo group for people coordinating rides out of L'Enfant, I wonder if starting something like that is feasible? I am in Alexandria until after 6 one day a week so it is a bit out of the way to go back up to the Pentagon but if I knew there would be people there I would make the trip.
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