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.
Beck’s rally, during which he was joined by Sarah Palin and other speakers, was estimated to have drawn hundreds of thousands to the National Mall.
That’s a statistic to add to the bus traffic...
Inbound or outbound?
Rally organizers should have everyone get on the Metro and ride it to a rally at the National Mall. It would be a way to get a hard number.
Better yet, buy individual rail passes and either give them away or include them with some sort of registration package (and include it in the fee).
It would be a great way to actually count the attendees.
Add buses and the many people like myself that drove in. We stopped at a rest stop and there were many cars and people with “Restoring Honor” shirts and stickers...
Also, many people came in the night before and were staying at hotels that were in walking distance or by hiring a cab. I still say there was 1.5 million there. I was at the 9-12 project and there were definitely more people at this rally.
I’m certain the rally did quite a bit for the D.C. economy.
Usually total number of trips.
No doubt all those people flocking to Sharpton’s rally! /s
There was no fee or registration involved.
Intersting statistic and use of a socialized public transit system.
Half inbound, half outbound would be my guess.
Once to get there, once to get back.
Also consider that this compares stats for other weekends this August, rather than year over (same day last year). This weekend was also move-in weekend for many of the local colleges. Many of those additional trips were freshman doing the Metro scavenger hunts used to teach them the system, or upperclassmen hitting their favorite bars for the first time since last Spring.
I guess each of those 87,000 people CBS reported rode six times?
It being a weekend and the metro area containing several millions, it can be extrapolated that many of those people came in from the suburbs. Those who came in from around the country had several modes of transportation. Locals are not likely to drive in on days like that.
I lived there for forty years and experienced few events of this magnitude.
If all 500k to 800k rally attendees rode the Metro on Saturday...the system would’ve collapsed (tipped over?).
I was there, and the waiting lines were horrendous with the supposed 180k additional.
Still wouldn’t have missed it...
That’s similar to the spike they see for the July 4 event.
The left is seeing their stranglehold on the country slip away, and they are filling their depends. Good for them!
Did they have to ride in the back of the train?
Not in my case. My son drove me in - I took the Metro out.
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