New slug line a non-starter

Woodbridge, Va. –– It’s a bust for a new commuter slug line from Woodbridge to Alexandria.

The new line, which was scheduled to begin Tuesday at the Virginia Railway Express station in Woodbridge, was going to the first slug line to take commuters to Old Town Alexandria.

In the morning, slugs were to stand near the Woodbridge station and wait to be picked up. For their return trip home in the afternoon, slugs were supposed to wait at the VRE station in Alexandria to be picked up and be taken back to Woodbridge.

It appears few got the message.

“Unfortunately, I am sad to report that we did not reach “critical mass” to achieve a sustainable slug line at at either the Woodbridge VRE or Alexandria VRE stations,” said David LeBlanc, who writes Slug-lines.com,  the area’s definitive source for slugging information.

Slugs – those who ride free in vehicles of three or more occupants during the morning and afternoon rush hours on Interstates 95 and 395 – usually commute to Crystal City, the Pentagon, Rosslyn and Washington.

The line to Alexandria is the most recent attempt to organize a new slug line, but historically the lines have organized independently.

Also hampering the development of the new slug line is construction at the Woodbridge VRE station.

According to LeBlanc’s Web site, slugs were to stand along busy U.S. 1 near the station, be picked up, and drivers could easy enter the High Occupancy Vehicle lanes from two points in that area.

But VRE told the Washington Post that they support slugging, but planned construction along U.S. 1 would make the area a dangerous place to stand.

LeBlanc then notified his readers to relocate to the front of the VRE station, behind U.S. 1 and away from the moving traffic.

It wasn’t enough.

“As you probably know, for slugging to work effectively there has to be an adequate balance of both slugs and drivers. Everything has to come together for success and our first effort just didn’t work,” said LeBlanc.

LeBlanc said he may try to reorganize the line when construction at the VRE station is complete.