Metro officials plan to bring in extra staff and offer 15 hours of rush-hour service on Inauguration Day as they prepare for crowds to break — and perhaps even double — previous ridership records.
They warn riders to expect long lines, packed railcars and unplanned closures.
Still, riders can look forward to free parking at Metro lots and lower, holiday-rate fares for the entire four-day weekend.
“We realize that the eyes of the nation and the world will be on us as record crowds arrive,” Metro General Manager John Catoe said as he presented the system’s plans to the agency’s board of directors Thursday. “The motto here is: No tourist shall be left behind.”
Catoe said he fully expects Inauguration Day to top Metro’s peak rail ridership day of more than 854,638 rail trips. That came July 11 of this year, a day with a home Washington Nationals baseball game, soaring gas prices and several other events.
On Inauguration Day, Catoe said, Metro is preparing to offer as many as 1.6 million trips to those who want to see Barack Obama’s historic swearing-in as president. “There’s no comparison,” Catoe said. “This is huge.”
Metro is limited in how many people it can accommodate on its trains. The system already runs nearly all of its 830 railcars daily.
Although it is expected to add 20 more cars by January, Metro officials said, the tracks can handle only so many trains. Metro officials expect the bus system will have to handle some of the crowd, though they caution many routes may face detours due to road closures.
Metro plans to extend rail hours from 4 a.m. to 2 a.m. Inauguration Day, plus run rush-hour service until 7 p.m. It hopes D.C. officials will dedicate some road lanes exclusively to bus service. And it will marshal its more than 10,000 staff to help herd crowds, even those who usually man a desk, by offering $100 gift cards.
It also plans to make a commemorative map and SmarTrip card and sell fare cards showing Obama’s face.
Metro officials did not provide a price tag on what its expanded service will cost. They said they plan to ask the hosts of inaugural balls to pay for running the trains until 2 a.m. as they did in 2005. And they expect to turn some profit on the commemorative Obama SmarTrip cards. A planned 35,000 cards will go on sale in early January for $10 each — fare not included.
TIPS FOR VISITORS
• Buy your Metro fare in advance. Visitors should consider bulk ordering one-day passes for $7.80 each that will allow unlimited rides.
• For security reasons, Metro plans to close some stations, including the Archives stop. The Smithsonian Station entrance on the Mall will also be closed and other stations may be closed as needed.
• All Metro bathrooms will be closed for security reasons, but officials plan to have portable toilets outside stations.
• Expect escalators to be shut off for crowd safety.
• Bikes will not be allowed on trains, according to preliminary plans.
• Metro officials encourage visitors to stay downtown to eat lunch, watch a movie or visit a museum after the swearing-in ceremony to stagger return-train traffic.
• A special Web page slated to start this afternoon will be devoted to updating Metro’s Inauguration plans at www.wmata.com.
