About yesterday

January 21, 10:07 AMDC Transportation ExaminerKatherine M. Hill

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Inauguration Day 2005, credit to Katherine M. Hill

Metro saw a record number of 973,285 people yesterday (as of 7 p.m.) And not including yesterday's accident, I couldn't be happier. In the face of large, and sometimes angry, crowds, I think Metro handed everything very well.

The Washington Post's transportation team reported that some stations let passengers exit for free. No doubt due to large crowds, but also, I want to think, because Metro employees were feeling charitable.

It feels good that the city has been abuzz with excitement and bodies. That the streets have turned into nightlong parties and people are happy to be here instead of rolling eyes at another allegedly significant slab of marble.

Because, yesterday, all I could do was marvel at the change from 2005 to this year. I wrote yesterday on my personal transit blog, The Perils of Transportation:

Four years ago we boarded the train in all black and were surprised to find our car mostly empty. It never really filled, and the tourists that boarded with us got out before they could access the parade route and when we looked confused they said they were sightseeing. "We never meant to come for THIS," they said as the doors closed behind them.

We got out at the station above and the streets were empty. We were surrounded by men and women in suits and long coats, who were walking to work. One of us was one of their co-workers and he waved and smiled as they went off to law firms and cubicles. And then we walked in the snow to the protest route.

[...]

We went to Chinatown, on an empty train, and got out at an abandoned stop. We are in a restaurant that should have been full, and probably is today, but was empty.

So even as harrowing as getting around was this week, and as frustrating as getting to work probably was, it was nice to see the city so alive.

Now we can go back to worrying about budget, deficit, development, swiftly closing doors and the staggering amount of money proposed for highways over public transportation.