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The weird thing about this is for some reason it's huge in NoVa but not so much in the Maryland suburbs. Or at least it used to be. Not sure why.
by joncrane 9y ago
The weird thing about this is for some reason it's huge in NoVa but not so much in the Maryland suburbs. Or at least it used to be. Not sure why.
- jcranmer 9y agoSlugging doesn't seem to really exist on a sustained basis anywhere other than NoVa. My guess is that it requires a specific set of circumstances to take off: SOV commutes need to be generally feasible (so that you have drivers), HOV lanes need to exist (so that drivers have a reason to pick up passengers), you need specific job loci (to make driver/passenger matching exist), and you need commuter buses (to provide the passengers). The Pentagon and I-395 provide one of the most optimal conditions for slugging, with the added bonus that you have effectively direct access ramps from Springfield and the Pentagon that completely bypass the regular lanes. Since I-66 was HOV-only during the rush hour until recently, that probably retarded the existence of slugging despite HOV lanes (since the SOV backup wasn't so feasible). Similarly, the lack of HOV lanes in MD (save for 270) also retard the impetus for slugging.
- joncrane 9y agoI think it might be that HOV-only lanes need to exist. 270 Has HOV lanes but it's just the left lane (out of minimum 3, sometimes 6).