The Washington Post reported last Thursday (Link to Article) on the efforts being made to reduce traffic congestion in Tysons Corner while construction is under way on Metro’s new Silver line. All of the digging and utility relocations associated with the rail project have brought the famous crossroads to a standstill. VDOT and VRPT have put a lot of time and money into creating solutions for the gridlock. William Lecos, an advisor on the project, lamented the fact that slugging was not in place in Tysons to ease the burden of single occupant vehicles (SOV). Here's how we can fix that.
With a little money and effort slugging can be expanded to the Route 267 corridor and service Tysons Corner. It may start slowly with just one starting point and one destination but there’s no reason for slugging on Route 267 to be any less robust (eventually) than it is on I-95.
The secret to slugging’s success on I-95 is that it saves commuters time and money. So how do we save Route 267 commuters’ time and money? Step number one…
1) Eliminate tolls during the morning and evening rush hours on the
A roundtrip commute on Route 267 from Leesburg could easily cost a commuter $10 or more per day. Do you think it would be worth $10 to an SOV commuter to pick up slugs in Leesburg and drop them off in Tysons? You bet it would. Would a cost-free, stress-free ride into and out of Tysons Corner make it worthwhile for SOV commuters to leave their cars at home and slug to work? Again, I have no doubts that the answer is “yes”.
To help the process along let’s put some money aside to create a website for slugging on Route 267 (or add to David LeBlanc’s current website: www.slug-lines.com) and add signs for slug lines at commuter parking lots. Backup transportation options are already in place through Metrobus, Commuter Connections’ Guaranteed Ride Home program, and the Loudoun County Commuter Bus System. (Not to mention the fact that Tysons will soon have Metrorail service.)
So who’s ready to take up the flag and make this happen? The governor-elect has promised to fix congestion in
Marc Oliphant (marcoliphantathotmail.com), is a native Arlingtonion and bicycle commuter who works for the U.S. Navy.
Great article. The intent of RuGoingMyWay.us is to compliment the great work of David LeBlanc (slug-lines.com) by providing additional, inexpensive, resources to support current slug lines and to help new ones spring up. The Tyson's Corner challenge will be a great test case. Give me a location (drop off and poick-up point) and I'll build an icon that can help promote it.
Posted by: Jim Cech | December 30, 2009 at 09:42 AM
Well said Kevin. I'd love to see Jitney routes here. I hope you're working to make them happen.
Slugging is by no means a panacea. The great thing about slugging is that it plays the role of transit but with no added infrastructure. It fills all the empty seats that would be driving to work anyway. You can't get any simpler (or cheaper) than that.
Posted by: Marc Oliphant | December 18, 2009 at 11:24 AM
Are we really such a Third-World country that "slugging" is the best mass-transit option we can come up with?
Even developing-world cities like Manila and Cape Town have an extensive system of affordable minivan routes.
The capital of the free world has slug lines. Sad. Good effort, but just sad.
Posted by: Vince K | December 17, 2009 at 11:49 PM