Discussion: Only few more days of regular registration.

Regular rates for Royal Romp registration ends Monday 2/20/2023. After that the price goes up some. So don't delay, get registered.
Course notes have been added to the web pages. Courses and Terrain are looking really good.

Royal Romp Price ends tonight.

So, if you were from out of town, 3 kids 12-15, and wanted to spend part or most of Friday in DC (National Mall area), what are the local tips on best places to park? Possibly good park and ride options for bus or metro?

Definitely Metro. Assuming you are staying near the meet site, you can park at Franconia-Springfield or Van Dorn Street metro stations and take the Blue Line. Get off at Smithsonian, that plants you right in the midst of the most touristy stuff. It's about a 45 minute ride. (Yellow Line would normally be another option and shorter trip but it's not running right now) You'll need a SmarTrip card or a one day pass for each person which you can get from vending machines at the station.

You can use the interactive map (click rail tab) to figure out other options too, but the above is probably the easiest in terms of not having to change trains and getting to right where you want to go.

@furlong...
I might be joining Mike, and am wondering if there are any commuter rail / park & ride options between those Metro stations, and the event site?

Metro is a good option. But if you’d rather drive/park (would likely save you time, and possibly money depending on how many of you there are), I recommend the parking lot next to theTidal Basin (1501 Maine Ave SW). It’s usually not full and it’s very close to the Washington Monument & the Jefferson Memorial. The Holocaust Museum is also very close. The other museums aren’t far.
Last year I think I paid $2/hour.
There’s also a lot of free parking on the mall but it fills up fast.
From DC to the meet site you will absolutely run into traffic. Just have to be patient.
(Sorry Guy, I’m not as up on the park and rides. They tend to be farther from the city center.)

That I don't know, Guy. I don't live down there but I visit often enough and always use the Metro, so I'm very familiar with that option.

I've never actually driven into DC - or lots of other major cities that have a subway/regional rail system. I prefer the ease of mass transit over struggling through traffic and trying to park in an unfamiliar place.

Thanks! Tidal Basin has been my go-to for driving in, but last time I was in DC it was closed off for some sort of event.

From DC to the meet site you will absolutely run into traffic. Just have to be patient.

Or have $$ for the I-395/95 HOT ("Express") lanes. Or be an HOV.

Is the HOV threshold 3+ or 4+ occupants?

Guy, how can you of all people not know the answer to that? If I wanted to know, you'd be the first person I'd think to ask!

HOV threshold varies by state. Only 2 required in CT.

Yes, you’ll want to review the rules. HOV requires a special type of pass to activate when you have the required number in the vehicle. Also, the 395/95 corridor has reversible lanes for each part of the day.

HOV occupancy requirements vary by road. For many (most?) it is 2+ like in CT. But there are places where HOV usage got so high that the number had to be raised, otherwise the HOV lanes would be as jammed as the general use (unrestricted) lanes. VA on the DC area is definitely one of those places, and I was wondering if anyone knew what they currently were.

I have a regular E-ZPass, not the switchable kind. The switch actually de-activates it, so the tolling infrastructure does not charge a toll for a vehicle that meets the threshold. If my car met the threshold, I'd put the pass somewhere in the car where it couldn't be read.

@J-J: Ha! One would think that -- and most of the time be correct. What I DO know is that it's higher than 2+ on the VA HOT (High Occupancy Toll) lanes. And that the I-95 Reversible HOT lanes extend past MCB Quantico, and will eventually get to Fredericksburg.

Guy, I think you are mistaken. Say I ride the express lanes with one person and no pass. It is the same as riding the express lanes with three people and no pass…you will get billed. They aren’t counting the people in your vehicle and saying, oh, I see three people, so he is good.

Flex pass still does something to avoid you getting charged for that trip, when it it is flex mode (compliant with the 3+ requirement).

Now I'm curious about it so I looked it up. It says the Flex works as a normal EZPass on other roads no matter if the HOV switch is on or off. So it can't just turn off the transponder, but rather must add something to the signal that only the HOV lane gantries can pick up.

By looking at Streetview on Google Maps, the lanes on 95 and 395 south of DC are HOV 3+

So it's probably better to just keep the pass up, because it would probably cost more to get billed.