Article on WJLA.com re Horner Rd Problemsl
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Topic: Article on WJLA.com re Horner Rd Problemsl
Posted By: 18thstreetcommuter
Subject: Article on WJLA.com re Horner Rd Problemsl
Date Posted: 31 Mar 2004 at 11:12am
FYI ... on WJLA's web site there is an article titled "Ride-Sharing Commuters Clog Parking Lots." Not a very positive article but it does mention that the situation has been carefully reviewed and that change is in the making.
Any idea when the winning option of Options 1 thru 3 will be implemented?
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Replies:
Posted By: glacier
Date Posted: 31 Mar 2004 at 11:38am
Here's the link:
http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0304/136182.html
Cheers,
Glacier
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Posted By: emancilla
Date Posted: 31 Mar 2004 at 12:00pm
Posted By: Bob
Date Posted: 31 Mar 2004 at 12:45pm
Here is the article that the TV news story was based on --from the Northern Virginia Journal (I had to extract it from a pdf) Bob
‘Slug’ overflow close
to breaking point
Ride-sharing commuters clog parking lots
By TIM SEIDEL
Journal staff writer
“Slugs” at Northern
Virginia’s largest commuter
lot may have finally met a
problem they cannot solve.
The intricate but notformally- recognized slugging
system usually runs smoothly,but recent morning traffic
backups extending from a slug line in the 2,200-space Horner
Road lot in Woodbridge onto busy Telegraph Road were
generating 10 to 15 complaints a day from bus drivers and
commuters, said Capt. Tim Rudy with Prince William
County Police. “The Horner lot has reached its capacity,”
Rudy said. “I know it’s conveniently
located, but it’s getting to a point that if there was an
emergency, it would be difficult to get in.
Slugging involves drivers who stop at designated areas to
pick up other commuters, also called slugs. Adding riders
allows both groups to take advantage of high occupancy
vehicle lanes on interstates 95 and 395.
An estimated 10,000 commuters slug along the
corridor every weekday. The system was commuter-created,
and logistical problems historically were commutersolved,
but problems at Horner might finally demand that a
higher power step in. “I’m usually hands off,”
said longtime slug David LeBlanc, who manages the
popular Web site www.sluglines. com. “The slugs work out
changes on their own. But because there was a problem, it
needed to be addressed.” Options at this point are still
being worked out. But several concepts, from new signs to
repainting the lot, involve assistance from the county or
the Virginia Department of Transportation.
While most slugs see the need for change, not all are
happy that local or state agencies might be needed.
“It will be fine so long as the government stays out of it,”
said slugger Pam Sessoms of Woodbridge.
Though it unofficially sanctions slugging as a
commuter option, VDOT has rarely involved itself in the slug
world for liability reasons, Joan Morris, VDOT spokeswoman,
told the Journal last August. “It’s a system that has
worked wonderfully on the I- 95 corridor for, if you can
believe it, nearly 30 years,” Morris said. “And it’s no
thanks to any government agency.”
Problems at Horner came to the forefront on March 12
when county police had to break up a Telegraph Road
traffic jam generated by an unusually long line of cars
waiting to pick up riders heading to Washington. Slugs
that line up on the Telegraph Road side of the commuter lot
travel daily to four major points in the District, including
14th Street and L’Enfant Plaza. “There are too many
people going to too many different places for just one
line,” said slugger Patty Esposito. “But there is no
obvious solution beyond breaking us up.”
LeBlanc met with Rudy and other county officials
March 24 to discuss how to alleviate the congestion. The
fruits of that meeting were posted on LeBlanc’s Web site,
and more than 70 site regulars already have offered their
comments. The slugs’ final recommendations will be
passed on to county engineers and VDOT for analysis.
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Posted By: Admin
Date Posted: 31 Mar 2004 at 8:15pm
Here is the text Glacier's link refer's to:
Ride-Sharing Commuters Clog Parking Lots
Wednesday March 31, 2004 9:00am
Woodbridge, Va. (AP) - Slugging might be getting too popular for its own good.
The term refers to some northern Virginia commuters who head into D.C. by parking in suburban lots and hitching rides with others to take advantage of car pool lanes on interstates 95 and 395.
Government agencies have rarely tried to regulate the ride-sharing program - but that might soon change.
Prince William County police tell the Northern Virginia Journal that recent morning tie-ups along Horner Road in Woodbridge have been generating about a dozen complaints a day.
The problem came to a head earlier this month when county police had to break up a traffic jam and issue citations because of an unusually long line of cars waiting to pick up riders.
A meeting was held last week with police and transportation officials to discuss ways to alleviate the problem. Final recommendations will be forwarded to county engineers and the Virginia Department of Transportation.
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