For those attending the Jan. 20 inauguration — or anyone riding Metrorail that day — plan on using the bathroom before joining the crowds and be prepared to hike lots of stairs on stopped escalators.
Metro is planning to close all station bathrooms systemwide, instead posting 150 portable toilets outside stations. And the system may shut down escalators to help control crowds, especially in the busiest stations at the end of the swearing-in ceremony of President-elect Barack Obama.
“People should anticipate them being turned off,” Metro spokesman Steven Taubenkibel said.
It’s not clear which escalators — if any — would be shut down or for how long, he said. But in the past, Metro has turned off escalators at select stations for July 4 or Washington Nationals home baseball games, he said.
That helps transit officials monitor the number of riders by slowing down the crowds, he said. It also lets transit police serve as a valve, bringing in waves of people, then closing access to the station until the next train arrives.
Furthermore, he said, huge crowds flowing down moving equipment onto already packed platforms create a safety concern.
Look for shut-down escalators at downtown stations near the Mall and Capitol where crowds are likely to rush the stations after the ceremony ends. But riders may be able to use the escalators at their starting and end points in outlying areas, such as the Red Line’s Wheaton station, which boasts the system’s longest escalator at 230 feet.
Meanwhile, the portable toilets will also likely be concentrated at outlying stations, Taubenkibel said, where the transit agency owns more property.
For those with mobility issues, Taubenkibel said the transit agency is striving to have all its elevators working that day. “Our goal is to have every single unit available to us,” he said. Metro plans to have elevator and escalator mechanics on standby, he added.
Metro officials expect Inauguration Day to surpass its record ridership of 854,638 rail trips from July 11, when a home Washington Nationals baseball game coincided with several other events amid peak gas prices.
“Pack plenty of patience,” Taubenkibel said. “And keep in mind there are a lot of people who have never been to Washington, D.C., or never ridden a transit system.”
