And the Crowd Kept Coming

Charter bus after charter bus streamed down the closed highways, every hotel filled for 75 miles, the ebbing crowds came on and on filling the federal downtown to overflowing and then some this morning. People were walking four or more miles to make their way down to the capital area as all roads and bridges coming into the downtown area are closed. Though temperatures would dip to the mid teens, tens of thousands anticipating the massive crowds elected to arrive early and spend the night on the Mall.

The mass transit authorities announced that by 9 AM 318,000 people had already entered through its turnstiles from when they opened that morning. Hundreds of thousands were still pouring in. From the pictures the crowds were packed from the steps of Capitol Hill to the Washington Monument. That area was closed at 9 AM (three hours before the inauguration) as it was already full and people were filling the area beyond the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial, though not tightly packed, the crowd was still solid.

To give the Canadian members of the family a sense of the crowds; imagine a crowd extending down University Avenue in Toronto from the steps of Queens Park to King Street, and now double the breadth of the avenue, that is the space between Capitol Hill and the Washington Monument. Now extend a solid crowd down to Queens Quay and a quarter of a mile beyond to get to the steps of Lincoln Monument that was filled with people.

In addition to the crowds along the National Mall, there were over a hundred of thousands already lined up along Pennsylvania Ave securing the position along the parade route. There are about 20,000 law enforcement officers over 58 agencies handling security matters. In support are 10,000 members of the National Guard deployed and 20,000 deployed in the area on standby if there was an emergency. Along the roof tops there are over 20 sniper teams watching the crowds and ready to respond to a threat.

In a way I would have loved to attend the inauguration. Knowing the area, and not willing to start camping out yesterday morning with a sleeping bag, and then spend many hours getting home, I thought I would stay home and watch it on television. Besides, I have never been a great crowd person.