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Inauguration revs-up demand for buses

By Michael Hewlett | Journal Reporter

Published: January 14, 2009

When Jimmie Bonham took two bus loads of people to Bill Clinton's second presidential inauguration in 1997, he didn't need a security clearance to park.

For Barack Obama's inauguration, he will.

After all, things become much more complicated when officials are estimating that as many as 2 million people, and possibly more, will be in Washington on Tuesday, the day of the inauguration.

And even though Bonham had planned to take one bus, he will be taking two because of the demand. He will be taking about 100 people to the inauguration.

"The first bus filled within seven days," he said.

The inauguration of Barack Obama as the country's first black president is historic.

It isn't clear exactly how many chartered buses will be in Washington on Inauguration Day. Locally, bus trips to the inauguration are being organized by individuals, churches and other groups.

Initial estimates had 10,000 chartered buses traveling to the nation's capital, but as of yesterday, only about 3,000 buses had been registered for permission to park in Washington, Mayor Adrian Fenty said.

Either way, the inauguration is shaping up to be an unprecedented event.

Washington officials have set aside several parking locations for chartered buses in order to get people as close to the National Mall and the inauguration as possible, said Eron Shosteck, the senior vice president of the American Bus Association, which represents 1,000 motor-coach and touring companies in the United States and Canada. And the demand for bus seats has been high.

"What I can tell you is that we've been hearing from our operators that they are getting deluged with bookings and requests for extra buses and extra services," Shosteck said.

Getting a handle on the logistics has been the biggest struggle, said Lauren Burch, a volunteer for the Forsyth County Democratic Party.

Burch, whose efforts are not connected to the local party, is taking seven buses -- about 350 people -- to Washington.

She had wanted to park the buses in Springfield, Va., and then have her passengers take the Metrorail into Washington.

But security officials nixed that idea, she said.

"They're cutting back a lot of routes into the city, and have already cut back on the Metro system," she said.

Bonham said that his two buses will park at RFK Stadium, and passengers will take the light rail into the city. Once the buses are parked, he doesn't expect any problems.

One problem, though, will be getting into Washington. Bridges from Virginia into Washington will be closed, and inbound lanes on Interstate 395 and I-66 will be closed, The Washington Post reported.

Plus, some Metrorail stations also will be closed on Inauguration Day.

And usually heavy traffic will be even heavier on the day of the inauguration.

Traffic was enough of a worry for Mutter Evans, who is organizing a bus trip for more than 100 people, to move up the departure time from 2 p.m. Monday to 10 a.m. The schedule change means that she will lose her seat on one of the two buses that have been booked.

Because Evans also is overseeing the Rev. Martin Luther King Day program at the Benton Convention Center on Monday, she is unable to leave at 10 a.m. She hopes to later get a flight to Washington.

"For all the people who are excited about it and paying their money, I thought that was the right thing to do," she said.

Evans said she is telling people to be prepared for anything.

"We're sharing as much information as we can so that people can be prepared for what we know will happen, and they can also be prepared, attitudinally, for the unexpected," she said.

■ Michael Hewlett can be reached at 727-7326 or at mhewlett@wsjournal.com.