How to Replace One Drive-Alone Trip in Hampton Roads: Your Halloween Escape Plan
In a horror movie, there is always someone who ignores every warning and heads straight into the basement. In Hampton Roads, we look at our commute route covered in red… and grab our car keys.
We would not survive the opening credits.
Then come the brake lights and traffic crawling so slowly even Michael Myers could catch us. Somehow, the parking garage still expects payment after everything we’ve been through. By the time you arrive, you’ve developed a personal vendetta against a silver SUV.
Since “sit in traffic and get chased by a masked serial killer become increasingly bitter” probably wasn’t the plan for your evening, let’s give you another option. Pick one trip this October and figure out how to get there without driving alone. Here’s how to plan your escape.
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First, pick a trip you can actually change
We need an escape plan that accounts for your life. If Tuesday involves school drop-off, work, an appointment, and transporting a child who suddenly needs poster board, Tuesday probably isn’t it.
For a Hampton Roads commuter, the easiest trip to change might be a weekend outing rather than a workday. Give yourself enough room to learn something without one missed connection bringing down the entire household.
Then pick your grievance. Parking fees? Traffic? Four friends arriving at the same restaurant in four cars, all furious that there’s nowhere to park? We’ve seen enough slasher movies to know splitting up is a bad idea.
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Do we all need to arrive separately?
Someone drops an event in the group chat. Everyone’s going. Apparently, so is everyone’s car.
We have coordinated everything except the transportation. Excellent work, everyone.
Ask whether you can ride together. Maybe a friend lives nearby, a coworker shares your route, or someone’s house makes a convenient meeting point. You could take turns driving if it becomes a regular thing.
Settle pickup, timing, shared costs, and the ride home beforehand. Especially the ride home. “I’ll be right back” has a terrible survival rate, and it’s an even worse transportation arrangement.
If your circle doesn’t include someone going your way, ConnectingVA can help you look for potential carpool matches. There are rideshare options in Hampton Roads beyond waiting for a coworker with your exact schedule to materialize beside your mailbox.
Investigate the route before committing to the bit
You know how someone hears a noise upstairs and immediately goes to investigate? Let’s put a little more thought into our next move. Ideally, enough to return for the sequel.
Look up your destination. Is there a bus stop nearby? Could The Tide handle part of a Norfolk outing? Would the Elizabeth River Ferry work for where you’re headed?
Check the schedule against when you actually want to arrive, including the walk from the stop or station. Then check the return trip. Dinner has a way of becoming dessert, another drink, and a forty-minute conversation in the doorway. Know what that does to your ride home.
Walking or biking might work for a shorter trip. Look at the crossings, sidewalks, bike facilities, lighting, and bike parking. “Only a mile away” sounds lovely until you see what’s standing between you and that mile.
If the route looks like a bad idea, try another one. This is where we get to stop yelling “DON’T GO THAT WAY” at the screen and actually take our own advice.
Your car can sit out a scene
You don’t have to abandon your vehicle in a dramatic act of personal growth. Drive to a transit connection. Meet a carpool partner. Park once and walk between nearby destinations.
Think about the stretch you most want to avoid. If finding parking downtown makes you consider moving to an isolated cabin, maybe try parking near transit and riding the rest of the way first. Because we know what happens at the cabin.
When looking at park and ride options in Hampton Roads, confirm what the location connects to, the parking rules, and the schedule. Make sure it works for getting back, too.
Go somewhere you actually want to be
An experiment is easier to bother with when there’s dinner at the end. Or friends. Or something your kids will talk about for the next three days.
Make plans around a local business, a neighborhood outing, or a community event. Ask someone to come with you. Sharing the ride gives you time to catch up before you arrive, instead of spending that time composing increasingly hostile thoughts about strangers’ lane changes.
For a family outing, Hampton Roads Transit’s Treats on Tracks on October 29 gives you a Halloween reason to try transit with the kids. Work the ride into the plans and let getting there be part of their adventure. To a kid, a train ride can be an event all by itself. Especially the kind that ends with candy.
Have a way home. We cannot stress this enough.
Before leaving, confirm your departure time, costs, directions, and return plan. Charge your phone and check service updates. If you’re sharing a ride, make sure everyone agrees on when you’re leaving.
goCommute’s free commuter solutions can help you sort through the options. Ask for help if you’re unsure how a route or connection would work. You’ve probably spent longer trying to choose something to watch.
Afterward, decide what you’d change. An earlier departure? A better pickup spot? Different shoes? Maybe the trip worked beautifully, but your friend’s interpretation of “leaving at six” requires a separate conversation.
Use that information next time. One attempt gives you something more useful than assuming it’ll be a disaster.
And if it works, congratulations. You’ve found another way to get somewhere you want to go.