Posted on 08/30/2010 1:36:30 PM PDT by markomalley
Metrorail traffic on Saturday the day Fox News commentator Glenn Beck hosted a rally at the Lincoln Memorial was at its highest level since the Fourth of July weekend.
More than half-a-million people rode Metro trains Saturday, far outpacing weekend ridership since Independence Day, according to Metro traffic reports.
Roughly 510,000 people rode Metro trains last Saturday, or about 180,000 more than had on any other weekend day in August.
Traffic was higher than [on] normal Saturdays, said Metro spokesman Reggie Woodruff.
Becks rally, during which he was joined by Sarah Palin and other speakers, was estimated to have drawn hundreds of thousands to the National Mall.
In the afternoon, we had some volunteers at the rally who stayed at the rally site till 3:00. When they got to the Smithsonian stop it was still really backed up - they were letting people board without a fare card, saying they would be able to pay at the destination. When they got to the Stadium station, they couldn't move people out as fast as the trains were coming in (still packed trains), so they had them leave without paying as well, so hundreds (at least hundreds) weren't counted on the return trip either.
I heard that 5 Metro stations were in the same situation as Stadium-Armory, so the metro count would underestimate the total attendance at the rally.
The trains were a mess. Packed. Take me more than a half hour to exit the train and get to street level. A lot of people made it to the event late because of the trains and traffic.
When we rode the lines were so long that they sent us through without scanning our tickets. The crowds on the train were patient even though we were packed like sardines.
We took pictures after the event because you couldn’t get near the main areas during the rally.
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