New Estimates Suggest 2 Million to 3 Million People to Attend Obama's Inauguration

As January 20 approaches, public estimates of how many visitors could be in Washington for Barack Obama's inauguration remain all over the map—but, to the relief of many city officials, most projections are significantly lower than the 4 million or 5 million originally projected.

Those numbers had been dismissed early on by the Secret Service as too high. But other officials' statements had seemed to support them, with Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty's stating in November that crowds could be "two, three, maybe even four times as large as the largest inaugural." With the record currently held by Lyndon B. Johnson's inauguration, attended by 1.2 million people in 1965, that would mean anywhere between 2.4 million and 4.8 million people.

But some officials now say that crowds will be closer to 2 million to 3 million people. Those numbers are coming from a closer look at sales by bus and airline companies and other sources. Although it's half of higher estimates, that number would still make Obama's inauguration the most-attended in history.

Still, most D.C. officials remain closemouthed about their projections, saying only that they'll be ready for the crowd—whatever it is.

"We just don't have a number," says Leslie Kershaw, a spokesperson for the mayor. "The District is preparing for an unprecedented amount."

Metro officials, responsible for the city's public transport, say they don't do projections. Nor are they privy to estimates that the Presidential Inauguration Committee or Secret Service have come up with, which have not been made public, says Metro spokesperson Steven Taubenkibel.

Metro's all-time high for ridership was 854,000 people on a Friday last July, and the inauguration is expected to break that number, Taubenkibel says.

Whether it's 2 million or 5 million, however, the pressure on the area will be huge, officials say.

"We're all just bracing ourselves," says Cheron Wicker, spokesperson for the Maryland Transit Administration.

• Read more about tourist tips for the inauguration.
• Read more about the inaugural events.
• See a map of the inaugural festivities.
• Read about the history of inaugurations.
• Read about the president-elect's train trip to the inauguration.