Thousands of charter buses from around the nation will converge on Washington in seven weeks for President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration, but no one quite knows where they’ll park.
“We’re working with the city on that,” said Allen Kinney, president of Cleveland’s Great Day Tours. “They’re not positive about where we’ll be.”
So far, 16 groups and more than 100 individuals have staked out a seat on one of Kinney’s 20 buses loading up for the event.
“We’re pretty much maxed out,” he said, adding he’ll transport 1,100 people, from neighborhood groups, churches, political action clubs and those simply interested in being a part of history.
And if all goes as expected, they could be part of historic gridlock. Federal officials have estimated about 1 million people flooding the city for the January festivities. Mayor Adrian Fenty has said that number could be closer to a record-smashing 5 million people.
Metro officials have been pushing for a bus lane on major arteries to cut down on what’s likely to be nightmarish traffic.
Some charter buses are slated to park at RFK Stadium in Northeast, said Metro spokesman Steven Taubenkibel, but details have not been finalized. Only a handful of Metro parking lots have bus capacity, Taubenkibel said, but the agency is brainstorming on how to maximize the space.
Teri Washington, a spokeswoman for the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission, which manages RFK Stadium, said its parking lots could hold about 1200 buses. But that’s if the lots were completely empty. If employees were parked there or if other events were going on, she said, capacity could be reduced.
District spokeswoman Leslie Kershaw said city officials are hammering out details and searching for space in collaboration with Metro officials, the American Bus Association, and surrounding state and local jurisdictions.
“They’re still working on it,” Kershaw said.
In Detroit, Agape Tours owner Terry White is working on making sure the 55 people who filled spots on his charter bus within a week of Obama’s victory will actually make it to downtown Washington. His travelers will spend the night before the inauguration in Breezewood, Pa., about 125 miles outside of the nation’s capital.
“We won’t be able to get real close,” White said. “But just being there is what we’re after, I guess.”
