Below are the first 10 and last 10 pages of uncorrected machine-read text (when available) of this chapter, followed by the top 30 algorithmically extracted key phrases from the chapter as a whole.
Intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text on the opening pages of each chapter.
Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.
Do not use for reproduction, copying, pasting, or reading; exclusively for search engines.
OCR for page 32
32
Table 21
What Is Your Agency's Practice Regarding Casual Carpooling/Slugging?
Response Count Percent
There is no casual carpooling or slugging in our area 27 69
We tolerate the activities but do not encourage them 6 15
We encourage these activities by allowing pick up and drop off on 2 5
our property
We encourage these activities through information on our website 2 5
We encourage these activities by installing signs to formally 1 3
designate pick up and drop off points on our property
We encourage these activities by promoting them in our written 1 3
materials and transit announcements
We prohibit these activities on our property 0 0
Other 8 21
Total Responses 39 100
Answers exceed 100% because respondents could choose multiple answers.
the number of vehicles in the carpool lane had decreased by who use PRTC's express service, according to the public
26% (L. Lee, Bay Area Toll Authority, Metropolitan Trans- transit agency's manager of planning and quality assurance.
portation Commission, personal communication, Sep. 1, 2011). Those casual carpools take thousands of people into the
core employment areas around the District of Columbia,
Two studies conducted at the University of California at commuters that PRTC could not accommodate as a result
Berkeley in spring 2011 examined the impact of toll increases of capacity issues. There is also an integral connection between
on casual carpooling and transit use. University researchers casual carpooling and transit in the DC area, as PRTC's transit
conducted focus groups of more than 100 current and former service is located near many slugging origins and destinations.
casual carpoolers. In addition, 400 responses were collected PRTC thus supports and promotes casual carpooling in a
from surveys at casual carpool sites. Researchers found that variety of ways.
about half of the loss of casual carpoolers was the result of
changes in residential and employment locations and sta- One way is by disseminating information about casual
tus rather than the toll. However, the toll definitely deterred carpooling on the transit agency's website. Included is a link
some casual carpool drivers and riders, not only because of to www.slug-lines.com, which offers everything from tips on
the cost itself but also because the injection of money into the slugging etiquette to descriptions of where slug lines form in
social dynamics of offering or accepting a ride made them the morning and afternoon. PRTC also supplies information
uncomfortable. Research results indicate that a $1 payment is about casual carpooling to people who request it through the
now offered to drivers at most casual carpool sites, and $1.25 agency's ride-matching request form. (The form specifically
from greater distances. A few drivers stopped picking up asks if people are interested in receiving this information.)
riders because they were worried that collecting a fee would Customer service agents in PRTC's call center are also able
create insurance and liability issues. The toll did not affect to provide information on slugging to callers.
more affluent drivers because they considered the savings in
travel time in the carpool lane more important than a toll. Some In addition, PRTC assists casual carpoolers when changes
drivers were no longer interested in offering rides because the are made to slugging locations. When the number of commuter
faster travel time was reduced with toll collection (E. Deakin, parking spaces at a mall recently decreased from 1,000 to 275,
University of California Transportation Center, personal com- for instance, the transit agency informed casual carpoolers
munication, Aug. 29, 2011). of alternate lots they could use and provided the location of
new slug lines, according to the transit agency's manager
of planning and quality assurance. The transit agency also
Profile: PRTC Supports Casual Carpooling suggests traffic patterns that might work best for given lots,
and it has provided input on slug line placement in the District
PRTC supports casual carpooling in the Washington, D.C./ of Columbia. The District is planning to relocate slug lines
Northern Virginia area, acknowledging the vital role it from main thoroughfares onto adjacent streets, according to
plays in the transportation system. There are more "slugs"-- PRTC. PRTC has also advocated consideration of slug activity
or casual carpools--in the region than there are transit riders during the planning phases of new park-and-ride lots.
