From the June 2023 situation of Automobile and Driver.

Each metropolis has its secrets and techniques. Washington, D.C., might have greater than most, however I wasn’t there to dig up our bodies, corporeal or political. My curiosity in visiting our nation’s capital was to find out extra a couple of covert society, a corporation of carpoolers who use codes and phrase of mouth to work round D.C.’s infamous traffic jams and exorbitant tolls. Beneath cherry blossoms gentle as goals and within the lengthy shadow of the Washington Monument, I set out searching for slugs.

The origins of slugging are murky, buried someplace within the smoggy ’70s, when the Shirley Freeway (I-395) from Virginia to D.C. turned the first U.S. freeway to implement a high-occupancy car (HOV) lane. These early carpool lanes have been strict, initially requiring 4 occupants (now three), so commuting drivers would fill their seats by swinging by the bus cease and sniping riders. Finally, the bus traces had extra hopeful carpoolers than mass-transit riders, and the bus drivers started referring to the fake passengers as false cash, often known as slugs. Undeterred by the slander, the slugs claimed the nickname and the follow grew in recognition, creating set areas and traditions. When the Virginia Division of Transportation partnered with the personal toll-road operator Transurban within the early 2000s, multiperson autos have been exempted from the costly charges to encourage carpooling, thus preserving the quick lanes flowing free. Slugging is symbiotic—no cash adjustments fingers, however all events benefit.

Had I got down to be taught the secrets and techniques of the slugs a couple of years in the past, it would not have been a lot of a problem. In accordance with the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments’ 2019 State of the Commute report, 20 % of all carpools have been slugs. There have been quite a few pickup and drop-off spots and an energetic web site detailing any route adjustments because of development or traffic closures. Then the pandemic hit, and the slug traces have been salted. Within the 2022 report, solely 4 % of carpools have been slugs, and my preliminary on-line analysis got here up in opposition to deserted boards, bounced-back emails, and 404 net hyperlinks. The slugging group appeared to vanish in a single day, the Roanoke Colony of the twenty first century.

Nothing is as irresistible as a thriller, particularly one with automotive tradition at its heart, and at Automobile and Driver, we could not cease interested by slugging. You simply get in a stranger’s automotive? There is no cash? How? Why? I hopped a flight to D.C., picked up a pearl-white Toyota Crown with a again seat large enough for clandestine carpoolers, and set off searching for solutions.

Legend has it that the tip of the Washington Monument’s shadow at rush hour factors on to a slug line.

First cease, the Pentagon. With roughly 27,000 staff, giant parking heaps, and a Metrobus lane, the Pentagon was one of many early slugging locations and one of many few energetic slug-line Fb teams I used to be permitted to hitch. There are numerous slug-line Fb teams, however many are, ahem, sluggish in posting or fiercely protecting of their group. Most of my be a part of requests and all my messages to admins went unanswered. The Pentagon appeared to nonetheless be slugging, with common posts cryptically requesting riders for “234” or providing instructions to “the Pork Chop.” I made a decision to test it out in hopes of decoding these secret messages.

For Drivers, D.C. Is No Los Angeles

What stood out to me as an Angeleno driving in D.C. was, first, the pace limits are low, and folks largely abide by them. Second, it is a good factor they do as a result of the roads are as tangled as a filibuster, with road names divided into quadrants, roundabouts that exit onto bridges, and fixed development. Even Google gave up, the map on the Crown’s heart display screen flickering in limitless recalculation. It did not assist that none of my slug-line pickup areas have been exhausting addresses, simply intersections pulled from screen-shots on the defunct Slug-Traces.com web site. At this level, as I used to be parked subsequent to an indication warning that my car and individual have been topic to look, a police automotive pulled up subsequent to me.

I defined to Officer Bush (it did not appear prudent to ask if he is associated to the previous presidents) that I used to be not doing something nefarious however was merely silly, misplaced, and searching for the slug-line pickup. He pointed me to a parking zone one half-roundabout over. He hadn’t used slugs, he advised me, however he knew individuals who had. “You may’t communicate to anybody,” he mentioned. “The riders simply give the driving force a token, and that is how they know the place to go.” This final bit proved a crimson herring, however the first half is true. I left the Pentagon with one piece of the puzzle. The slugs did exist.

My subsequent lead got here from one of many Fb pages, a hyperlink to a WhatsApp group centered on journeys between Horner and L’Enfant. I did not know what a Horner or a L’Enfant was, however I crossed my fingers and threw a message into the fray. “Hello, you may delete this, however I am making an attempt to be taught extra about slugging. Would anybody care to speak for {a magazine} story?” A couple of minutes later, my message was gone, “deleted by admin,” however not earlier than I would had a response, “You may name me tonight. —Jasmine,” and a telephone quantity.

Does this appear to be a reliable carpooler?

Get in Line

That afternoon, photographer Roy Ritchie and I went again to the Pentagon. Simply earlier than 4:00 p.m., office employees and navy personnel began lining up alongside the curb of the parking zone Officer Bush had identified. A silver Lincoln Navigator pulled up, two ready riders climbed in, and it pulled away. A blond girl walked towards a grey Tesla. She held up her fingers in fast succession, two-three-four. The motive force nodded, and she or he obtained within the again seat. An older gentleman in a darkish jacket joined her, and with its express-lane-friendly trio, the Tesla left. My preliminary makes an attempt to converse with ready slugs met with failure. The riders have been sweaty and drained after strolling from their offices, earbuds in, keen to depart. Drivers saved their home windows up, avoiding eye contact as Ritchie and I skulked on the periphery. We felt like creeps. I had higher luck once I modified my method from journalist to rookie slug. “I need to do that tomorrow,” I advised a lady in a lavender pantsuit. “Will individuals be upset if I am new?”

“They solely care about getting the place they should go,” she answered. She’d began slugging earlier this yr, when a bus strike disrupted her common commute. The person subsequent to her was making an attempt it for the first time on the recommendation of a good friend. A hybrid Camry got here to the curb, and so they nodded to me and took off. By 4:30, the parking zone was sparse, however I felt confident we had sufficient data to attempt a slug experience the following morning. However first, I would hear what Jasmine Smith needed to say.

The slug traces on the Pentagon have official indicators. Most different areas are tougher to seek out.

I do not blame the Pentagon slugs for his or her reluctance to speak, however I certain appreciated Smith’s willingness. “Oh, I at all times like telling individuals about it as a result of it is such an odd idea,” she advised me that night. “Perhaps someone will get impressed, get it organized, and make an app.” Smith proved a superb supply, having slugged as each a rider and a driver quickly after transferring to the D.C. space in 2016. She acknowledged the scene’s weirdness, admitting that, at first, she could not think about something that will persuade her to get right into a stranger’s automotive. “I rode the bus, which picked up on the similar place as a slug line. Vehicles would drive up, individuals would get in, they’d drive off, and I believed, ‘Now these individuals are attending to work without spending a dime, and right here I’m standing on this bus line paying.'” Finally, her curiosity received, and she or he gave it a attempt. “I obtained into town, and I by no means stopped.” Slugging not solely saves cash however is healthier than customary carpooling since you’re by no means left excessive and dry because of another person’s poor time administration.

As of late Smith drives, however she nonetheless makes use of slug traces. With out them, if she takes the faster-moving toll lanes, her commute prices practically $60 a day, simply in charges. Drivers farther out in Virginia would possibly pay $40 or extra every method with out two passengers. Slugging makes a whole lot of sense. “Did anybody let you know the foundations?” Smith requested earlier than we ended the decision. “No speaking. No telephone calls. No loud music.”

Life within the Slug Line

The subsequent morning, guidelines in thoughts, we left D.C. whereas it was nonetheless darkish. Our vacation spot was the Route 234 park-and-ride lot, 30 miles exterior of city. Not solely did it fulfill my curiosity concerning the coded Fb messages, nevertheless it additionally proved to be one of many busier afternoon Pentagon locations, so I used to be hopeful we would rating a morning pickup there.

Enjoyable reality, the U.S. Senate has saved a secret sweet desk within the Capitol for the reason that late ’60s.

Even at 6:00 a.m., the traffic coming into town was daunting. Operating down the middle of I-95, the vehicles within the specific lanes whizzed by, taunting these crawling on both aspect. It takes just one expertise caught within the D.C. jam to know how an hour alone together with your highway rage could make a half-hour with a couple of well mannered strangers appear way more interesting. We pulled in close to the bus cease, and there they have been, in crisp work garments, with papers underneath their arms, the ready slugs. I opened the window and drove up. “Pentagon,” I mentioned, making an attempt to behave mature and reliable, managing at greatest a nervous whisper-squeak. As two riders stepped ahead, I added in a rush, “I am writing a narrative about this simply so , in case you do not need to be a part of it.” They shrugged and obtained at the back of the Crown. Identical to that. No speak. The entire course of took lower than a minute.

The first few miles of the drive have been eerily quiet, simply the low hum of the Toyota’s powertrain, the slightest of shimmies because it tried to determine between fuel and electrical operation whereas we crept ahead in stop-and-go, and the clicking of Ritchie’s digital camera. As soon as we obtained within the specific lane, I broke the legislation. “We’re writing concerning the D.C. commute and slugging,” I mentioned, waving on the digital camera in clarification. With permission granted, Ameeq Khan and Delane Aguilar turned chatty, bemoaning the excessive price of toll lanes and bus fares, peppering me with questions concerning the Crown, and celebrating the sluggish return of slugging post-COVID. Khan works at Georgetown College and has been slugging since 2006, typically taking a experience to the Pentagon, then grabbing a bus for the final leg to his office. Aguilar works on the Pentagon and, like a number of others I met, began driving throughout the bus strike however plans to stick with it, because it’s each cheaper and 10 minutes faster on common.

Slugging works in D.C. due to its distinctive mixture of a small metropolis heart, clogged freeway arteries, and costly toll roads. The HOV 3+ lanes can save commuters lots of of {dollars} and hours of sitting in visitors every week.

“What is the weirdest factor that is ever occurred to you as a slug?” I requested Khan. He laughed and recounted a experience with a lady whose automotive was stuffed with meals. “Like groceries?” I requested. “No, like unopened emergency meals. Half the again seat was cans of beans. I requested what she was making ready for, and she or he mentioned, ‘I have been there as soon as, and it will not occur once more.'” Ritchie chimed in, “Been the place, hungry in traffic?” Khan shrugged. Some mysteries stay.

Toyota Crown: The King of Slugs?

The Toyota Crown had been on hiatus within the States for the reason that Nineteen Seventies, however in Japan, it did the job Ford’s Panther platform did right here, serving as taxi, police automotive, and selection transportation for presidency officials. The brand new model coming to the U.S. is properly suited to ferrying a number of adults, with its tall physique and an accessible Platinum trim that includes leather-based upholstery and a glass roof. It is a quirky and intriguing automotive, properly aligned thematically with the quirks and intrigue of slugging. Our top-trim slugger, with a 264-hp turbo 4 and electrical motors combining to supply 340 horsepower, begins at $53,445. The entry-level Crown, which has a 236-hp hybrid powertrain with a 2.5-liter inline-four, kicks off at $41,045.

Senior Editor, Options

Like a sleeper agent activated late within the recreation, Elana Scherr didn’t know her calling at a younger age. Like many women, she deliberate to be a vet-astronaut-artist, and got here closest to that final one by attending UCLA artwork faculty. She painted pictures of vehicles, however didn’t personal one. Elana reluctantly obtained a driver’s license at age 21 and found that she not solely beloved vehicles and needed to drive them, however that different individuals beloved vehicles and needed to examine them, which meant someone needed to write about them. Since receiving activation codes, Elana has written for quite a few automotive magazines and web sites, masking classics, automotive tradition, know-how, motorsports, and new-car critiques.