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The social context of informal commuting: Slugs, strangers and structuration

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  • Mote, Jonathon E.
  • Whitestone, Yuko

Abstract

Despite considerable interest in the role of social interactions and social context on transportation, there have been very few attempts to explore specific cases of social interaction influencing transportation systems. This paper explores the social practice of slugging, an informal system of carpooling in the Washington, DC area. Slugging emerged in response to the establishment of Virginia's High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes in the early 1970s, as single drivers picked up riders alongside the road (slugs) in order to meet the requirements for driving in the less congested HOV lanes. Drawing on the work of sociologist Anthony Giddens, as well as the sociological insights of Georg Simmel and Stanley Milgram, we suggest that the practice of slugging highlights the processes of institutionalization and structuration. This paper details how the region's mass transportation policies and urban culture have combined to result in an institutionalized practice with particular norms and logics of behavior. We conclude that looking at specific cases where social context has affected transportation, like slugging, could provide useful insights on the impact of social context on transportation policies and systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Mote, Jonathon E. & Whitestone, Yuko, 2011. "The social context of informal commuting: Slugs, strangers and structuration," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 45(4), pages 258-268, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:45:y:2011:i:4:p:258-268
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Geertz, Clifford, 1978. "The Bazaar Economy: Information and Search in Peasant Marketing," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 68(2), pages 28-32, May.
    2. Jonathon E Mote & Gretchen Jordan & Jerald Hage & Yuko Whitestone, 2007. "New directions in the use of network analysis in research and product development evaluation," Research Evaluation, Oxford University Press, vol. 16(3), pages 191-203, September.
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    Cited by:

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    2. TyreeHageman, Jennifer & Kurani, Kenneth S. & Caperello, Nicolette, 2013. "Community and Social Media Use among Early PEV Drivers," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt02620767, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.
    3. Miller, Harvey J., 2013. "Beyond sharing: cultivating cooperative transportation systems through geographic information science," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 296-308.
    4. Nielsen, Jesper Riber & Hovmøller, Harald & Blyth, Pascale-L. & Sovacool, Benjamin K., 2015. "Of “white crows” and “cash savers:” A qualitative study of travel behavior and perceptions of ridesharing in Denmark," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 113-123.
    5. Alexander, Matthew & Hamilton, Kathy, 2015. "A ‘placeful’ station? The community role in place making and improving hedonic value at local railway stations," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 65-77.
    6. Kurniawan, Jude Herijadi & Ong, Corinne & Cheah, Lynette, 2018. "Examining values and influences affecting public expectations of future urban mobility: A Singapore case study," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 66-75.
    7. Amirmahdi Tafreshian & Neda Masoud & Yafeng Yin, 2020. "Frontiers in Service Science: Ride Matching for Peer-to-Peer Ride Sharing: A Review and Future Directions," Service Science, INFORMS, vol. 12(2-3), pages 44-60, June.
    8. Cohen, Maxime C. & Jacquillat, Alexandre & Ratzon, Avia & Sasson, Roy, 2022. "The impact of high-occupancy vehicle lanes on carpooling," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 186-206.
    9. Ilan Salomon & Matan E. Singer, 2014. "'Informal Travel': A New Conceptualization of Travel Patterns?," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(5), pages 562-582, September.
    10. Maness, Michael & Cirillo, Cinzia & Dugundji, Elenna R., 2015. "Generalized behavioral framework for choice models of social influence: Behavioral and data concerns in travel behavior," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 137-150.
    11. Romero, Fernando & Gomez, Juan & Paez, Antonio & Vassallo, José Manuel, 2020. "Toll roads vs. Public transportation: A study on the acceptance of congestion-calming measures in Madrid," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 319-342.
    12. Stewart Barr & Jan Prillwitz, 2014. "A Smarter Choice? Exploring the Behaviour Change Agenda for Environmentally Sustainable Mobility," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 32(1), pages 1-19, February.

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