Slug Tales Poll: Has Sequestration Changed Your Commute?

Slug Tales

I used to look forward to summer.

As a slug, summer was always the easiest time of year to commute – with no school buses on the road and more people taking leave for summer vacations, which always meant less traffic and more parking available at the local commuter lots.

Not these days.

Although my short trip up I-95 north has been much quicker lately, the trek from the commuter lot to my office in Downtown D.C. has been just as long as any other season, and the parking situation has hardly changed at all. Even worse, the Slug Lines have seemed much longer than usual, and move at, well, a snail’s pace.

So what gives? I have a theory.

None of us have been able to avoid it, the dreaded “S” word: Sequestration. It has hit us all in one way or another, whether that means furloughs, hiring freezes, or just overall budget cuts. And, I don’t know – is it far-fetched to think those cutbacks aren’t affecting the slug lines as well?

Allow me to explain how I arrived at this conclusion.

Recently, I decided to start getting to the slug line earlier. I thought, the sooner I get in line, the better my chances of getting a ride, right? I’m typically one of the later slugs, and after being left waiting past 9 a.m. a few times, I realized that something would have to change.

So today, for example, I left my house at 8 a.m., only to sit in about 20 minutes of traffic on my way to the commuter lot. Slight setback, I thought, but it shouldn’t be a problem. I even lucked out and found a parking space at the Horner Road lot, which tends to fill up early. Woo hoo! But once I could see the slug line on the horizon, my little heart sank.

Eight people in line ahead of me, and it was 8:25 a.m. Not a good sign, I sighed. After about 15 minutes, one gentleman finally bowed out of the line to get his car and drive to work, taking a few slugs from the line with him. Even with four down, there were still four ahead of me, and that clock was ticking closer and closer to 9:00 AM.

Now there were four people waiting behind me as well, and not one other driver had stopped to pick up slugs. There were so many people waiting for rides, but where were all of the drivers?

And this has become more and more common, almost a daily occurrence, in fact. This morning, I ended up waiting a total of one hour, standing in line at the commuter lot. At that point, I wished I could just turn around and go back home. Sadly, I don’t really have that option.

I haven’t attempted to confirm the validity of this theory yet, but I have run it by some of my friends in the slug line. They seem to think it’s entirely possible, though perhaps they’re just trying to humor me. It just seems as though there have been a lot more people looking for rides than there are drivers looking for riders, and maybe – just maybe – there’s a reason for that.

Maybe some of the slugs who now wait in line used to be regular drivers, who had to cut out the expense of driving to work every day. Maybe they’re just driving less often. Maybe more people are teleworking, whether simply by choice or at the direction of their agency or company in order to cut back on office space. Maybe more folks are choosing to slug, as opposed to paying for alternate methods of public transit?

I can’t help but wonder if this recent hit to our pocketbooks has changed our commuting habits, so now I ask you, my fellow commuters – have you had to make changes to your daily commute? I want your feedback!

Help me prove (or disprove!) my theory.

[poll id=”52″]

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