Slugging it out

Wow. I heard the coolest story on NPR this morning. In at least a few US cities, people have taken a creative but oh so simple approach to mass-ish transit. Apparently, people line up in parking lots and decks and wait for solo drivers dying to angle into the HOV lane to come by. There's a person in the front who calls out the driver's destination, then the willing passengers queue up and climb in. It's like impromptu carpooling. It's called Slugging. The passengers are the Slugs.

The funniest aspect of this whole thing is that there are rules of Slug etiquette. You're not supposed to talk. Names are not exchanged. You can't use your cellphone except for the briefest of exchanges. One guy interviewed said he hadn't given as much as his name in over five years of Slugging it out. Another Slug shared that his commute is longer, but it's free -- since another rule is the Driver does not get gas money.

There is a lot right about this. It's definitely interesting, along the lines of hiring people out of the Home Depot parking lot to help with your yard on a Saturday.

More rules here: http://www.slug-lines.com/Slugging/Etiquette.asp