D.C. transit system plans security for inaugural crowds

WASHINGTON -- The Washington area's transit system is bracing for record ridership on Inauguration Day and says passengers should expect extraordinarily long lines and packed railcars and buses.

With hotels filling up in Pennsylvania and West Virginia for the Jan. 20 swearing in of President-elect Barack Obama, public transportation will be critical for getting crowds to and from the nation's capital, officials said.

"We recognize the eyes of the world will be on us," Metro chief John Catoe said Thursday. "Will it be the largest crowd ever? We think so."

District of Columbia Mayor Adrian M. Fenty has said Obama's inauguration could lead to an unprecedented turnout of 3 million to 5 million people. Other estimates have anticipated crowds of about 1.5 million.

Catoe said Metro is preparing for more than double the system's typical ridership. Weekday ridership is usually about 750,000 on rail and 450,000 on buses.

The Metrorail system will almost certainly eclipse its highest inaugural ridership of about 811,000 in January 1993, when Bill Clinton was sworn in for his first term.

Other transit systems that serve Washington also are preparing for large crowds.

Virginia Railway Express and Maryland's MARC service typically don't run on federal holidays, but will do so for the inauguration.

Amtrak, meanwhile, has seen a surge in ticket sales, spokesman Karina Romero said. Eighteen Washington-bound trains on the Northeast Corridor are already sold out for the long weekend, and Amtrak is monitoring whether to add trains to meet demand, she said.

"We're anticipating passenger loads that we're used to seeing each Thanksgiving," Romero said.

On Metro, Catoe said passengers can expect to wait perhaps an hour or more to get into downtown rail stations after the swearing-in ceremony at the Capitol. Escalators likely will be turned off because of safety concerns. Passengers are encouraged to spread out their trips to avoid the crush.

To handle the crowds, Metro will operate on a rush-hour schedule from 4 a.m. to 7 p.m. All available railcars and buses will be put into service.

For security reasons, the Archives-Navy Memorial-Penn Quarter station and the National Mall entrance to the Smithsonian station will be closed. Metro may hold trains sporadically as the presidential motorcade travels over subway tunnels. Metro transit police said riders can expect to see uniformed officers with canine teams on patrol.

The transit agency plans to sell 35,000 commemorative plastic and reusable farecards, also known as SmarTrip cards, for the event. The cards will be sold for $10 online and in select retail locations in early January. Three million to 5 million commemorative paper farecards are expected in vending machines by late December.

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Associated Press writer Kamala Lane contributed to this report.