Slugging is a form of commuting used in the Washington, D.C., area (mostly among commuters who live in Northern Virginia) that essentially combines a variation of "ride-share" commuting and hitchhiking. Like most metropolitan areas, the traffic in Washington is notoriously troublesome during the morning and evening rush hours. To help relieve some traffic volume, Virginia and other states in the area created "High Occupancy Vehicle" (or HOV) lanes that provide separate roadways for vehicles carrying three or more passengers. A situation came about whereby drivers wanted to use the HOV lanes but either didn't know any coworkers who lived nearby, or didn't want to get involved in a complicated arrangement that forces three or more people to coordinate their work schedules. Commuting is the process of travelling between a place of residence and a place of work. ... Washington, D.C. is the capital city of the United States of America. ... Map of Virginia with Northern Virginia indicated in red Northern Virginia is a regional area consisting of Arlington, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, Prince William, and Stafford counties and the independent cities of Alexandria, Falls Church, Fairfax, Manassas, and Manassas Park. ... See also Hitch hike for other meanings Hitchhiker in Luxemburg (1977) Hitchhiking (also called lifting, thumbing or hitching, Thumb up a ride) is a form of transport, in which the traveller tries to get a lift (ride) from another traveller, usually a car or truck driver. ... Rush hour in a city A rush hour is a part of the day with busy traffic and hence traffic congestion on the roads and crowded public transport; normally the two periods in a day when people are travelling to or from work or school. ... State nickname: Old Dominion Other U.S. States Capital Richmond Largest city Virginia Beach Governor Mark R. Warner (D) Tim Kaine (D-Governor Elect) Senators John Warner (R) George Allen (R) Official language(s) English Area 110,862 km² (35th)  - Land 102,642 km²  - Water 8,220 km² (7. ... A permanent, separated high-occupancy vehicle lane on I-91 in Connecticut A high occupancy vehicle (or HOV) is any vehicle with a driver and one or more (or sometimes two or more, or three or more) passengers. ...

The solution that arose involved the creation of free, unofficial ad-hoc carpool networks, complete with published routes and pickup and drop off locations. During the morning rush, people looking for free rides into DC ("sluggers") park their cars at designated pickup locations (usually "Park n Ride" free parking lots for carpoolers) and then walk to the queue for the route with the designated dropoff location they want a ride to.

Drivers pull up to the queue for the route they will follow and either display a sign or call out to the first person in line the designated dropoff point they are willing to drive to and how many passengers they can take. The first person in line will then turn around and repeat the information loud enough for the others in line to hear. Enough riders step forward to fill the car and the driver heads off towards the city. There are a number of unofficial rules to the arrangement, including

1. no talking unless the driver initiates,
2. no open windows unless all passengers approve,
3. no money will ever be exchanged or requested,
4. drivers are not to pick up sluggers who are not in line

In the evening rush hour, the entire process is reversed. Sluggers get themselves to a designated pickup point for the route they wish to ride on and wait for a driver to show up going to their designated dropoff location.

The arrangement benefits everyone, since the sluggers get a free ride in and out of the city, the drivers get a free pass to use the less congested HOV lanes, the traffic load is reduced due to the higher frequency of carpooling, and the environment benefits by having fewer cars on the road idling in stop-and-go traffic (which causes the most harm to the environment). Carpooling is shared use of a car, in particular for commuting to work, often by people who each have a car but travel together to save costs. ...

There are checks and balances. Websites have been created where sluggers can post warnings about the driving habits and behaviors of particular drivers. Some drivers have been known to react with outward anger when they see a slugger taking down their car's license plate, presuming that the slugger will be posting a warning to not accept rides from that driver, potentially ending that driver's ability to use the HOV lanes.

External Links:

• SlugVirginia.com