Transportation experts from around the world, in town for an international conference, say they believe the local transportation network is going to experience some problems during the inaugural festivities, but will be fine.
In a coincidence of scheduling, nearly 11,000 transportation experts from around the world descended on the capital this week just days before the region is poised to experience what could be its greatest transportation challenge yet.
“I think D.C. is going to be fine,” said Roger Weld, who designs highways and bike paths for the New York State Department of Transportation. “People will be slowed down and inconvenienced. And that’s going to be OK.”
The Transportation Research Board brings together experts from government agencies, universities and the private sector every year in D.C. to share the latest information in the field. In between discussions of the latest technologies for pavement and how to test drivers’ saliva for drugs, this year’s attendees have chatted about the inauguration.
Local officials estimate that more than 2 million people could come to the Jan. 20 events. They have devised elaborate plans to close bridges to cars, offered free buses, ramped up commuter train and bus service and scheduled extra hours of subway service to handle what could be unprecedented crowds.
Some of the transportation experts say they are glad they will be gone by the time the crowds come. The meeting wraps up today.
“A train had a problem two days ago and it was really, really crowded,” said Nasir Ingawa with Nigeria’s federal road safety commission. “We’re only imagining how it would be when the inauguration happens.”
Jon Antin, who studies driver safety at Virginia Tech, noted that all the road detours and closures could put drivers on unfamiliar turf and cause problems. “They may be especially distracted by what’s going on,” he said.
But Scott Cooner, a research engineer who specializes in traffic management at the Texas Transportation Institute in Dallas, said local officials have been good at disseminating information and encouraging those who can to avoid downtown. “They’ve put a lot of thought into it,” he said.
He, like others who traveled into D.C. for the meeting, say they have enjoyed riding Metro and exploring the city’s walkable streets compared with the places they call home.
“People in D.C. should feel fortunate they have options,” Cooner said.
Yet some of the experts who live in the area know the inauguration will be anything but academic.
Kossi Adjaka, a transportation engineering student at Howard University, usually drives into the city from his home in Gaithersburg. But when the crowds come Tuesday, he has other plans.
“I’ll stay at home and just watch CNN.”
