Inauguration Day update: Get a Metro pass now

When I called sources recently in Washington, D.C., about Barack Obama’s inauguration, they used terms like “unprecedented” and “historic” to describe the number of people expected to converge on the capital on Jan. 20, but no one would hazard a crowd estimate. The Associated Press reports numbers beginning at 1.5 million and going as high as 3 million to 5 million.

But one thing they all recommend for travelers heading to the city for the big event: Take the Metro — and buy your ticket before Inauguration Day.

“Historically, we don’t do estimates,” Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority spokesman Steven Taubenkibel said when I asked how many passengers the transit system is expecting. “All we can do is plan and prepare.”

So can the rail service handle a massive turnout?

Ridership numbers for past inaugurations never reached a million: 811,257, Bill Clinton’s first inauguration, 1993; 454,918, Clinton’s second inauguration, 1997; 601,839 for George W. Bush’s first inauguration, 2001; 583,803 for Bush’s second inauguration, 2005.

Metro set a record July 11 when trains carried 854,000 passengers over a 22-hour period — a number it hopes to double for Inauguration Day, according to Taubenkibel. So what will that day be like transit-wise?

Hours: Metro trains, which run from Maryland and Virginia as well as within D.C., will be on rush-hour service from 4 a.m. to 7 p.m. and stay open until 2 a.m. on Jan. 21.

Also there will be free parking at all Metro lots (get there early!). The Archives-Navy Memorial-Penn Quarter station on the green and yellow lines will be closed for security reasons.

Stations: Rail platforms packed at key times (like after the swearing-in ceremony) may shut Metro stations temporarily until passengers can be moved, Taubenkibel says. “People could be standing outside in the downtown area for maybe an hour or more trying to get in.”

Tickets: Don’t plan on queuing up for tickets — it will be too hectic and too crowded. At the online Metrorail site, you can buy a one-day pass for $7.80, a 7-Day Short Trip Pass for $26.40 and a 7-Day Fast Pass for $39 (they are mailed to you after purchase and no, you won’t be getting one of the commemorative tickets you see here).

Souvenir tickets: The Commemorative SmarTrip Card (top) will go on sale for $10 in early January and the Commemorative Farecard (bottom) will show up in D.C.-area vending machines in late December.

– Mary Forgione, Los Angeles Times staff writer

Related posts:

“Barack Obama’s swearing-in ceremony: How to get inauguration tickets”

$150 inaugural ball tickets? Yes, but no guarantee Obama will show

[Images: www.wmta.com]

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 25, 2008 at 4:00 am by Mary Forgione and is filed under East Coast, Washington D.C., Winter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.