Today’s Post has a story about airport “backtrackers”, commuters from Loudoun who drive through Dulles Airport and buy a cup of coffee so they can use the cheaper and less traffic-choked Dulles Access Road and the carpool lanes on I-66 as solo drivers. If only there were another alternative for them to take to get to work… something that would be quicker than driving… maybe a train…

Virginia Secretary of Transportation Pierce R. Homer listed ways in which commuters go to great lengths for a speedier commute:

“The Washington area commuter is by far the most ingenious,” Homer said. “They use loopholes, inflatable dolls … they get into cars with complete strangers and go west to go east. They do what they have to do to survive.”

Upon first reading, it might seem as though Homer (or, probably more accurately, the Post’s editor) is grouping getting into cars with strangers—slugging—in with other loopholes. It’s not. Slugging complies with the spirit of the rule by actually reducing car traffic through carpooling.

According to the article, the MWAA doesn’t seem too concerned about violations, though they do regular enforcement. Perhaps that’s partly because revenue from tickets go to nearby counties. The authority and counties should work together to curb this practice. Since tolls are going up for the Dulles Toll Road to pay for the rail extension, how about devoting all or part of future enforcement revenue to the project as well?

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Tagged: fairfax, loudoun, roads, silver line, traffic, transit, virginia

David Alpert created Greater Greater Washington in 2008 and was its executive director until 2020. He formerly worked in tech and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco Bay, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He lives with his wife and two children in Dupont Circle.