Slugging is Back
GWRideconnect survey finds that slugging activity has expanded beyond one Stafford commuter lot for the first time since the pandemic.
By Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
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Despite the best efforts of the COVID-19 pandemic, slugging is back and appears to be expanding in Stafford County.
“For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, slugging activity was observed outside of the Staffordboro [Park and Ride] lot,” a press release from the ridesharing service GWRideConnect states.
“Slugging” is a form of carpooling that occurs when drivers pick up non-paying passengers at designated pickup points—usually commuter parking lots—and drop them off at a predetermined location.
It originated in the 1970s and “has evolved into a highly effective form of carpooling that significantly reduces vehicle miles traveled on the I-95 corridor,” the press release states.
GWRideConnect conducted a study on slugging practices within Planning District 16—Fredericksburg City and Stafford, Spotsylvania, Caroline, and King George counties—on August 13 and 14, and found “significant activity” at Staffordboro, located off Route 610, and also for the first time since the pandemic at the Warrenton Road Park and Ride lot off U.S. 17.
Four riders—or slugs—and four vehicles were counted at the Warrenton lot. The destination for all the slugs was the Pentagon.
“We are hopeful that this small number is an indication that slugging activity will increase at this lot,” the report states.
The GWRideConnect team counted 208 vehicles transporting 402 slugs at the Staffordboro lot.
This was a slight decrease over last year at this lot, but the report notes that the count coincided with the first week of school for public schools in the region.
“GWRideConnect plans to move future counts to the second week of September, beginning in 2025, to avoid conflicts with the start of the school year,” the press release states.
Leigh Anderson, GWRideConnect Program Director, said that “with OmniRide commuter buses now servicing more commuter lots in the region, slugging is making a modest but promising return to this area.”
She said there is “potential for slugging to expand to the commuter lots on Route 630 Courthouse Road in Stafford and U.S. 1 Commonwealth Drive in Spotsylvania, which are also served by OmniRide commuter buses.”
See GWRideConnect’s slugging reports from previous years here.
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