Slugging is the new carpooling

I was watching the green channel yesterday and heard about an unique form of carpooling in Washington D.C. called slugging. Apparently, in D.C. and Virginia too, there are HOV (High Occupancy Vehicle) lanes specifically for cars carrying more than 3 passengers. So, people wanting to drive in these lanes to cut down on there drive time, started picking up extra passengers at the bus stops, called "slugs".

"Slug lines" then started forming next to bus stops all over. From what I understand, the person in the front of the line calls out the driver's destination and whoever's going that way, jumps in. This is a great way to cut down the amount of cars polluting the air and it's FREE! Gotta love that. There is a web site, slug-lines that gives you a complete history and tons of info if you are in the area and want to start "slugging".

From what they said on the show, there haven't been any known problems with the system since it began back in the 70's. That is great to hear because, unfortunately, when you hear of things like this, my mind goes to the issue of safety.

I had previously posted about another carpooling website Divide the Ride awhile back and posed a question of concern about it as well. However, I was informed that you do only sign up to carpool with people that you know and trust. This is so important in this day and age, but I'm glad to hear that there are programs like these that are working out.