CC Walker-Talker

I picked up slugs both this morning and yesterday morning. It's been reliable for me in the morning lately, and I definitely prefer picking up slugs and getting on the HOV lane to sitting in the crawling traffic.

Yesterday I actually had riders that were going to Crystal City. Up until then, each time I picked up slugs in the morning I was dropping them off at the Pentagon. I'll pull up and say Crystal City or Pentagon, because Crystal City riders are kind of hit or miss to find and are rarer than Pentagon riders. I was glad I finally got some CC riders because it's less out of my way and the traffic at the HOV exit is much better once you split off from the Pentagon drivers and go to the right instead of sitting in the line that turns left. I did end up going out of my way to drop them off a little further into CC than where my parking garage is. But I kind of felt like that was me "giving back" again as a former-passenger because I've had drivers that have gone a little bit out of their way so that they could drop me off closer to work, and it's just nice. Plus I had no idea where the "normal" drop-off for CC was, so I just went with the flow.

Today I went back to the Pentagon to drop slug off, and one of my riders was definitely a talker. Not to say that I mind, because it usually makes the time go faster and I like meeting new people and socializing, anyways. But it does depend on the person. Sometimes as a driver (or even as a passenger before) I just wanted the other people in the car to be quiet for one reason or another. If it gets to that point it's probably because they are obnoxious or annoying, because ask B, I like to talk. All of my afternoon slugs have been quiet and I just play my country music and tell myself if they don't like it, oh well.

I found out this guy usually goes to CC but just that day he had to go to the Pentagon. So I'm sure I'll be seeing him again. I heard parts of his life story, we talked about slugging patterns and odd slugging stories, and he asked about my job, etc. The normal traffic conversations, discussing the new building off 395 that has no commuting plan whatsoever and is going to be a massive headache when workers are transitioned there, the usual slug convos. It did make time go faster and he didn't question the status of my university or anything like that. (My last "talker" asked me if Penn was a real Ivy league school or a fake one, because he thought it was a fake one.  And was I sure it was a real one? Well, it's not as GOOD as the other ones, right? I should have said, we're the party school Ivy, and left it at that.) The ride took about thirty minutes total, so not too bad.

I'd seen that guy before when I used to be a passenger, and just from standing in line I knew he was a talker. So I knew what to expect when he came over to my car. I don't know names so I'll dub him CC walker-talker. Apparently he walks back and forth between the Pentagon and CC a lot, whether to the Pentagon slug lot in the afternoon or if he can't get a ride to Crystal City in the morning. It's not far, and I'm pretty sure a lot of people do that because the Pentagon slug lot is just easier to get rides to and from.

Busted

My friend and former coworker, H we'll call her, sent me a link today to an article about cops having an increase in HOV violation busts in the area. (http://www.wtop.com/?nid=41&sid=2421793). The subject title of her email was "because you are the maven of all things commute related." Made me laugh. Then I thought about it and I laughed some more because how did I become the person who everyone comes to with their commuting stories. It's kind of funny. (Thanks H.) But I get pretty into it when people complain about commuting in this area. And I can usually relate. Enter slugging sales pitch here. I should really be their marketing cover girl. If "slugging" was a company. Or a formal thing at all.

Regarding the HOV violations and the cops being on increased patrol of the HOV lanes, it's definitely true. I see them out there all the time. I saw two cars pulled over this morning getting tickets for not having the necessary number of people in their car.

To ride on the HOV lane, there must be 3 people in your car. Thre are a couple of exceptions:

1. If you are a cab, you only need two riders.

2. If your car is a hybrid, you can ride on the HOV lanes regardless of how many people are in your car.

3. Motorcycles are also allowed on the HOV lanes.

It's pretty often, too, that the cops will just stand at the exits from the HOV lane and check out each car as it goes by to make sure they aren't violating the HOV restrictions. Personally, I would never take that risk because as you can see in the article, the fines are pretty lofty:

First offense is a $125 fine;

Second offense is a $250 fine, plus three points;

Third offense is a $500 fine, plus three points;

Fourth offense is a $1,000 fine, plus three points

And with my luck, the one time I would try to break the rule the cops would be there waiting for me. Whenever I see people pulled over for that violation on the HOV lanes I wonder what they were thinking and if it's their first offense. No way I'd want to pay $250 after already being caught for that once. I hope they had somewhere really important to be and were just desperate in the horrible 395 afternoon traffic.

But I find myself being biased and first thinking that they probably do it all the time and just never thought they'd get caught. Then I get mad because those people add to the HOV lane clogs that happen occasionally. Maybe if those people weren't breaking the ruuuule we'd always be going 75 mph on the HOV lane instead of having some delays.

So I don't feel bad when I see them pulled over by the cops. Not fun for them though. Especially if they've made it all the way to the HOV exit and they're probably thinking to themselves, "haha didn't get caught again!" That's kind of humorous of the cops, actually. Let them enjoy the ride then slap them with the fine. Touche.

Getting Situated

I've been on a brief hiatus from blogging because:

a. I was testing out the commute last week to see which routes worked best, the time differences, etc. 

b. last week was shorter due to the holiday 

and 

c. on the days I did try to pick up slugs in the afternoon last week Crystal City one-way streets, my lack of knowledge of the area, and my lack of patience got the best of me and I ended up either taking back roads home or sitting in 395 traffic. 

A: I'm getting a better mental map for the area over there as well as for the parking garage which is under construction and has minimal directions regarding where the exits lead to until it tosses you out onto a one-way street heading in the opposite direction you want to be going, of course. I've found a good route to take to pick up slugs, as well as a good route to take for days when traffic isn't bad or days when I leave early, etc. so I don't need to or can't pick up slugs. 

Time-wise, today it took me about 20 minutes from the time I picked up slugs to the time I dropped them off. I was probably only on the HOV lane for about 8 minutes. It was glorious. And door-to-door it was about 40 minutes which can be shortened if I hit the street lights at the right time, and get used to the commute so I'm sure of where I'm going. It's definitely longer door-to-door not picking up slugs and taking regular 395, as well as way more painful. It may seem weird having strangers in your car, but I'd rather do that than stop and go 150+ times on the way home with a max speed of 20pm on 395. Like I said, I have a lack of patience especially with traffic.

C: I don't really want to talk about, but I will.  After sitting in the 395 traffic going home once already last week, I knew I wanted to get into the habit of picking up slugs at the Pentagon instead. So I set out to do that one day last week and I ended up on a street I hadn't been on in the area and the street signs up ahead were hard to read until it was too late. I ended up on Route 1 South and would have to cross over like four lanes of traffic immediately to get back to where I wanted to be, so I just said screw it and kept going South. I had another similar experience the next day, where I ended up getting frustrated and just getting on 395 South. Why was this so difficult--go North from Crystal City and it's hard to miss the Pentagon, right?

Friday I was so annoyed with my commute from the day before that I decided to just bail on attempting to pick up slugs and I figured the traffic wouldn't be too bad since it was Friday and a lot of people don't even go into work. It wasn't as bad as the other days but it still wasn't great.

But today, I wasn't going to sit in that 395 traffic. I was determined not to be an idiot for a third time attempting to pick up slugs. I had picked up slugs once the week before from the Pentagon, so I really don't know why this whole parking garage change was messing me up. I knew what street I needed to be on to get to the Pentagon, the parking garage spitting me out in a different location was just throwing me off. So I managed to find my way back to the exit of the garage that I was familiar with, and lo and behold, it solved all my problems. Thank. Goodness.

S the Good Samaritan

Sadly, I don't work with S (P.S. check out her blog!) anymore so we don't walk to the slug line together anymore, either. But she told  me about her slugging experience today because it had to do with the line I used to go to. It used to take longer for my line to get rides than the line S was in. Our slug lot is huge and there's a wide array of destinations that the drivers go to from there in the morning, mostly in DC. However, in the afternoon standing at the slug line, there's two lines. The other line gets more rides because it's closer to the exit from the HOV lanes (see this post) and I think drivers want to get the strangers out of their car sooner rather than later, plus they often have other places to go in the afternoon than all the way to our slug lot, about 4 miles down the road.

Anyways, for whatever reason, there's less drivers that go to my slug lot in the afternoon from DC than there appear to be for this other slug lot. I know for a fact that some drivers who leave from my slug lot, take riders back to the other slug lot in the afternoon. I've seen some of the drivers as they call out the name of the other slug lot and recognize them as drivers that leave from mine in the morning.

So it's a running joke between S and I, when we show up to the afternoon slug line and my line is short and hers is extremely long. When she looks at me with sad, puppy face, I just yell back to her 20 people away, that she'll still be in a car before me, so she should be quiet. And it usually happened that way. (It should be noted that it wasn't this long of a wait every day, but it was always the other line that went faster than ours. It was like we were the last ones picked in kickball, sometimes.)

This picture was just funny. 

So finally, to the point of the story: S was driving by the afternoon slug line about two minutes before 6pm when the HOV lanes open to everyone, and she saw two slugs standing in "my" line still waiting. She decided to pick them up, the Good Samaritan that she is, because she knew the pain I sometimes went through as a Rolling Valley rider. When they got in, she told them that her friend goes to RV and she knows it's always harder to get a ride. They replied, "Oh, so you've heard our RV sob stories. Tell your friend, thank you. We really appreciate this ride."

Slugging is a very humbling way to commute. You really are eternally grateful when you get a ride after waiting for a while, or when it's really hot (or cold) out, or you really have somewhere you need to be. Some days are better than others, so it makes it all worthwhile, but on days like this where the riders were still waiting for a ride at 5:58pm, the gratitude oozes out of you. And oh yeah, it's free. Did I mention that?

Giving Back

I decided not to risk getting stuck in unbearable traffic this afternoon, so I went over to the Pentagon slug lines to pick up some slugs after work. I got kind of turned around getting over there, but once you're close enough to the Pentagon it's hard not to find it.

The Pentagon parking lot is hectic. Tons of cars. Traffic cops telling you where to go and doing it in a not-so-efficient manner (in my experience). I made it over to the circle where the slug line that I needed to go to was, and passed by a few other slug lines in the circle before reaching mine. The Pentagon's slugging system is very formal and organized and they have signs for the locations permanently placed in the concrete. What is difficult is getting around the other slug lines in the circle to get to yours because there are cars trying to merge back into the circle once they've picked up slugs, and you're trying to get over to the right at the same time. Shocking there aren't more fender benders. Although I have seen some fights.

Anyways. I got to the front of the line and picked up two riders. My second rider was a middle aged asian woman who when she got into my car said, "Oh, perfect. Thank goodness. It's so hot out there!" It may seem silly, but if you've ever slugged, you know that feeling of being sooo grateful there is a car going to your destination right as you walk up to the line. I felt pretty good being on the other side of that equation. 

Then she stuck an umbrella in front of her face to block the sun from her entire body and I just wanted to burst out laughing. It was a struggle, but I can report back that I did not laugh in her face. I just smiled. And then decided to share it on my blog. Maybe you had to be there. 

Either way, I felt good about picking up slugs and returning the favor I've been on the other side of so many times, even if I wasn't returning it to the specific people who picked me up.

Jealous Pangs

Patience is a virtue. That's the lesson learned from today's commute. 

But, having enough gas in your tank is also necessary. Especially when embarking on an unpredictable commute. And I did not. Or at least I was worrying that I didn't. And waiting in line at the slug lot where there were about four cars in front of me also going to Crystal City (CC). 

After realizing I'd have to wait a little while because of the other CC cars, I decided to try the other slug lot nearby because I didn't have much gas left. I figured there might be less cars there because it's a smaller lot and I would just take some slugs to the Pentagon instead. I got over to the other lot, and there were there cars and no people. I waited for about five minutes and only one person came up. After 8am, that lot is pretty slow. I finally caved and decided to get gas and just stick it out on 395 solo. 

Parts of 395 weren't bad, but there was a lot of bottlenecks and congestion where there was merging going on. I looked over at the HOV lanes to see if maybe they were having a bad day, too. Maybe they were having some "unexplainable" traffic congestion like sometimes occurs on the HOV lanes. Nope. Flying right by. As I sat there crawling behind brake lights. 

I was the person I used to feel sorry for as we were going eighty in the HOV lanes. "Ha...I could never do that. That's painful." And it was. And the driver and other slugs would agree. Craziness. If it wasn't for my Darius Rucker cd, I don't know what I'd have done. Ok, that's an exaggeration. It's survivable. Then again, it wasn't the worst traffic I've seen on 395 before. But why do that when you can pick up slugs and be there in at least half the time. I totally wished I had filled up on gas the night before so I could have just sat in the slug line and waited for riders. (Darius did make me care less about the traffic I was sitting in, though. Love his latest cd.) I just sat in my car, occasionally glancing over at the HOV lanes and sighing. I usually plan so well. I forgot how my gas tank lies to me when it's closer to E, and ends up dropping faster than it should. It also lies to me when it's full, and will take forever to budge at all. Maybe I should get that checked.

Supply and Demand

Slugging is just like any product: it relies on supply and demand. There is a tangible shift in power from days when there is a long line of cars and you're one of few people looking for a ride, to days when you're in a long line of people waiting and there's not many cars available. 

When you walk up and there's a long line of people and not many cars, you're way more susceptible to taking a ride that will drop you off eight blocks away. When you're one of fewer people in line and there's a lot of cars, you can be more picky, so that you get a car that takes you exactly where you want to go. 

On days when there's more cars than people, or the cars are going places that the people in line have turned down, you'll see some drivers calling out their windows to see where people are going. They'll often change their mind and tell you that they'll take you to your location because they've been waiting a while. They may reach their head out and just say, "Hey, where....ARE you going?" 

Desperation reaches both sides of slugging. Often you'll see slugs in line, suddenly sigh and walk towards one of the cars in line that they previously turned down if they've waited too long or think they'll be late for work. I try to hold out until it's really been too long, before I accept something outside of my 4-block range. Because I know that with my luck, if I accept a ride from a car going farther away than I'd normally accept because I'm tired of waiting, 2 seconds later a car going to my exact location will show up. I prefer to wait. 

S knows all about this theory of mine, and one day she ran into me on the way to work when I was coming from a bit farther away. She just started laughing and said, "I see you accepted a ride over here, huh?" Yes, I'm lazy. But the theory usually works in my favor.