The 2009 Armed Forces Inaugural Committee, a joint military command established every four years to plan, coordinate, and provide military ceremonial support for the presidential inauguration, is using this 40- by 40-foot map to plan logistics for the inauguration.
By Mark Young, Media General News Service
By Mark Young, Media General News Service
Email to a Friend
Stumble It!
Most Popular Stories
WASHINGTON – If you’re still thinking of heading to Washington to be part of what may be the city’s biggest gathering ever, you better move fast
With a month left until President-elect Barack Obama takes office, the details of his inauguration are trickling in. Here’s the latest:
How do I see Obama’s swearing-in?
It will be difficult to get close enough to directly witness the Jan. 20 swearing-in.
Tickets are required for the area closest to the Capitol steps where Obama will be sworn in at noon. They are given out by members of Congress and the Presidential Inaugural Committee.
Each Senate and House member received between 200 and 400 tickets. You can call their offices for tickets, but most were inundated with calls and e-mails for tickets and have stopped taking requests.
The next best option is to join the masses expected to gather further down on the National Mall. The mall stretches two miles from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial. Hundreds of speakers and 10 large video screens will be placed on the mall so people can watch and listen to Obama’s swearing-in and the inaugural parade.
Tickets are not required for the Mall. While it’s open around-the-clock, security officials are asking people not show up any earlier than 4 a.m. when Washington’s Metro system will open.
Officials don’t want people staking out spots during the days and nights leading up to the Inauguration for several reasons - a security sweep of the mall may require people to move; tents are not allowed on the Mall and the January weather in Washington is typically cold.
How do I see the parade?
The parade route will run from the Capitol to the White House along Pennsylvania Avenue. About 15,000 people will participate in the two-hour parade, which will begin at 2:30 p.m.
Advanced tickets to planned bleacher seats along the parade route are expected to be sold through the Presidential Inaugural Committee. Tickets are not needed to stand along the sidewalk.
U.S. Secret Service agent Malcolm D. Wiley Sr. said the number of people that will be allowed to stand and sit along the parade route has not yet been established. Wiley said the earliest people will be allowed to line up along the parade route is 7 a.m.
How tight will security be?
While all the details haven’t been released, visitors will be expected to undergo some type of security screening before they will be permitted to approach the mall, the Capitol or the parade areas.
For a list of what items not to bring, visit the Web sites of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, Metro and the U.S. Secret Service.
Can I volunteer to help at the Inauguration?
No. More than 40,000 people have offered to volunteer to help at Inauguration festivities and the Presidential Inaugural Committee is no longer taking applications for volunteers.
Where can I find a bathroom on the Mall or parade route?
There are plans for 5,000 portable toilets to be brought in for Inauguration Day. You can also check out Imodium’s Bathroom Finder online.
How do I go to an inaugural ball?
Inaugural balls will occur between Jan. 15 and Jan. 20. The official balls the Obamas will likely attend are organized by the Presidential Inaugural Committee, but many states and other organizations host balls as well. You can buy tickets through those groups.
For more information on balls and special events, check-out Media General's round-up.
What’s the best way to travel to and around Washington?
Millions of visitors are expected to pour into Washington. Your best bet is to finalize travel plans as soon as possible.
The airlines will be using larger aircraft and have added about 100 flights into Washington between Jan. 15 and Jan. 22, said David Castelveter, a spokesman for the Air Transport Association.
Plane tickets are still available at standard fares. You will be able to get a seat, but it might not be at an ideal time, Castelveter said.
“Given the millions of people who want to go, they’ll be seats,” he said. “But they’ll be few and far between.”
Travel will likely be spread out over several days and regional airport officials expect it to Thanksgiving.
Amtrak is also experiencing great demand, but seats are still available, said Amtrak spokeswoman Tracy Connell.
Bookings for its regional service, which runs along the Northeast corridor south to Richmond, Va., have jumped by 20,600 during Inauguration week compared to the same time last year when nearly 7,000 riders used the rail line. Ridership of the Carolinian, which runs from Charlotte to New York, has jumped from 660 riders to 2,250.
In a city already notorious for its traffic, the potential of adding millions of visitors to the mix could be a recipe for disaster. About 10,000 charter buses are expected to descend on the city. D.C. officials are still working out the details of where all those buses and cars will park.
On Inauguration Day and the days leading up to it, there will be bridge and road closures. City officials are expected to release the details of those soon.
Inaugural planners are urging people to take Metro. Throughout the weekend, Metro will be able to easily handle the additional riders, said Lisa Farbstein, a spokeswoman for the transit agency.
She recommends people buy one-day passes in advance online, to save money and avoid waiting in line for Metro passes.
On the day of the Inauguration, Metro will open at 4 a.m. and close at 2 a.m. Jan 21. On its busiest day Metro handled 854,000 trips, Farbstein said. On Inauguration Day, the system will be at “crush-load” and could double that with as many as 1.7 million trips
As a result, Metro is advising that those within a two-mile radius walk to Inauguration events.
Are there still places to stay?
Hotel rooms are still available for the Inauguration, said Rebecca Pawlowski, a spokeswoman for the city’s convention and tourism operation Destination DC.
But not many. There are 95,000 hotel rooms within Washington and a 30-mile ring of the city. As of Wednesday, at least 2,000 rooms were available within that area. Rates vary and many hotels are requiring minimum-night stays, Pawlowski said. Within 200 miles, at least 11,000 rooms are still free, she said.
For help finding a hotel room, visit Destination DC or call 1-800-422-8644.
Many in the Washington area are renting out their apartments through online ads. Sites like craigslist.org have thousands of listings. Travel planners said this can be used as an alternative to hotels, but urge renters to use good judgment in rental agreements.
What other Inauguration festivities are planned?
On Jan. 17, Obama and Vice-president elect Joe Biden will make stops in Philadelphia, Wilmington, Del., and Baltimore before arriving in Washington that evening.
On Jan. 18, an afternoon welcome event will be held on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. It is free and open to the public.
On Jan. 19, there will be some events on the Mall to commemorate the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. There will also be a children’s concert held in Washington’s Verizon Center. Tickets are required but are free. Details on how to obtain tickets have not yet been released.
What’s the weather like in Washington in January?
January is Washington’s coldest month. The average high for January is 42 degrees and the average low is 27 degrees. And there’s always the possibility of rain and snow.
Where can I find more information?
Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies
Metro
Presidential Inaugural Committee
Tourism
U.S. Secret Service
Washington, D.C.
The latest coverage
With a month left until President-elect Barack Obama takes office, the details of his inauguration are trickling in. Here’s the latest:
How do I see Obama’s swearing-in?
It will be difficult to get close enough to directly witness the Jan. 20 swearing-in.
Tickets are required for the area closest to the Capitol steps where Obama will be sworn in at noon. They are given out by members of Congress and the Presidential Inaugural Committee.
Each Senate and House member received between 200 and 400 tickets. You can call their offices for tickets, but most were inundated with calls and e-mails for tickets and have stopped taking requests.
The next best option is to join the masses expected to gather further down on the National Mall. The mall stretches two miles from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial. Hundreds of speakers and 10 large video screens will be placed on the mall so people can watch and listen to Obama’s swearing-in and the inaugural parade.
Tickets are not required for the Mall. While it’s open around-the-clock, security officials are asking people not show up any earlier than 4 a.m. when Washington’s Metro system will open.
Officials don’t want people staking out spots during the days and nights leading up to the Inauguration for several reasons - a security sweep of the mall may require people to move; tents are not allowed on the Mall and the January weather in Washington is typically cold.
How do I see the parade?
The parade route will run from the Capitol to the White House along Pennsylvania Avenue. About 15,000 people will participate in the two-hour parade, which will begin at 2:30 p.m.
Advanced tickets to planned bleacher seats along the parade route are expected to be sold through the Presidential Inaugural Committee. Tickets are not needed to stand along the sidewalk.
U.S. Secret Service agent Malcolm D. Wiley Sr. said the number of people that will be allowed to stand and sit along the parade route has not yet been established. Wiley said the earliest people will be allowed to line up along the parade route is 7 a.m.
How tight will security be?
While all the details haven’t been released, visitors will be expected to undergo some type of security screening before they will be permitted to approach the mall, the Capitol or the parade areas.
For a list of what items not to bring, visit the Web sites of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, Metro and the U.S. Secret Service.
Can I volunteer to help at the Inauguration?
No. More than 40,000 people have offered to volunteer to help at Inauguration festivities and the Presidential Inaugural Committee is no longer taking applications for volunteers.
Where can I find a bathroom on the Mall or parade route?
There are plans for 5,000 portable toilets to be brought in for Inauguration Day. You can also check out Imodium’s Bathroom Finder online.
How do I go to an inaugural ball?
Inaugural balls will occur between Jan. 15 and Jan. 20. The official balls the Obamas will likely attend are organized by the Presidential Inaugural Committee, but many states and other organizations host balls as well. You can buy tickets through those groups.
For more information on balls and special events, check-out Media General's round-up.
What’s the best way to travel to and around Washington?
Millions of visitors are expected to pour into Washington. Your best bet is to finalize travel plans as soon as possible.
The airlines will be using larger aircraft and have added about 100 flights into Washington between Jan. 15 and Jan. 22, said David Castelveter, a spokesman for the Air Transport Association.
Plane tickets are still available at standard fares. You will be able to get a seat, but it might not be at an ideal time, Castelveter said.
“Given the millions of people who want to go, they’ll be seats,” he said. “But they’ll be few and far between.”
Travel will likely be spread out over several days and regional airport officials expect it to Thanksgiving.
Amtrak is also experiencing great demand, but seats are still available, said Amtrak spokeswoman Tracy Connell.
Bookings for its regional service, which runs along the Northeast corridor south to Richmond, Va., have jumped by 20,600 during Inauguration week compared to the same time last year when nearly 7,000 riders used the rail line. Ridership of the Carolinian, which runs from Charlotte to New York, has jumped from 660 riders to 2,250.
In a city already notorious for its traffic, the potential of adding millions of visitors to the mix could be a recipe for disaster. About 10,000 charter buses are expected to descend on the city. D.C. officials are still working out the details of where all those buses and cars will park.
On Inauguration Day and the days leading up to it, there will be bridge and road closures. City officials are expected to release the details of those soon.
Inaugural planners are urging people to take Metro. Throughout the weekend, Metro will be able to easily handle the additional riders, said Lisa Farbstein, a spokeswoman for the transit agency.
She recommends people buy one-day passes in advance online, to save money and avoid waiting in line for Metro passes.
On the day of the Inauguration, Metro will open at 4 a.m. and close at 2 a.m. Jan 21. On its busiest day Metro handled 854,000 trips, Farbstein said. On Inauguration Day, the system will be at “crush-load” and could double that with as many as 1.7 million trips
As a result, Metro is advising that those within a two-mile radius walk to Inauguration events.
Are there still places to stay?
Hotel rooms are still available for the Inauguration, said Rebecca Pawlowski, a spokeswoman for the city’s convention and tourism operation Destination DC.
But not many. There are 95,000 hotel rooms within Washington and a 30-mile ring of the city. As of Wednesday, at least 2,000 rooms were available within that area. Rates vary and many hotels are requiring minimum-night stays, Pawlowski said. Within 200 miles, at least 11,000 rooms are still free, she said.
For help finding a hotel room, visit Destination DC or call 1-800-422-8644.
Many in the Washington area are renting out their apartments through online ads. Sites like craigslist.org have thousands of listings. Travel planners said this can be used as an alternative to hotels, but urge renters to use good judgment in rental agreements.
What other Inauguration festivities are planned?
On Jan. 17, Obama and Vice-president elect Joe Biden will make stops in Philadelphia, Wilmington, Del., and Baltimore before arriving in Washington that evening.
On Jan. 18, an afternoon welcome event will be held on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. It is free and open to the public.
On Jan. 19, there will be some events on the Mall to commemorate the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. There will also be a children’s concert held in Washington’s Verizon Center. Tickets are required but are free. Details on how to obtain tickets have not yet been released.
What’s the weather like in Washington in January?
January is Washington’s coldest month. The average high for January is 42 degrees and the average low is 27 degrees. And there’s always the possibility of rain and snow.
Where can I find more information?
Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies
Metro
Presidential Inaugural Committee
Tourism
U.S. Secret Service
Washington, D.C.
The latest coverage