From the Presidential Inauguration Committee comes word that the President-elect and VP-elect will make the journey to DC for the inauguration by train:
Today, the 2009 Presidential Inaugural Committee announced that the President-elect, Vice President-elect and their families will travel - via railroad -- to Washington, D.C. on Saturday, January 17th and host events along the way in Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore. The trip marks the final leg of a journey that began on the steps of the Old State Capitol in Illinois and will culminate on the steps of the United States Capitol.I think this sound pretty cool.
"As part of the most open and accessible Inauguration in history, we hope to include as many Americans as possible who wish to participate, but can't be in Washington," said Emmett S. Beliveau, Executive Director of the 2009 Presidential Inaugural Committee. "These events will allow us to do that while honoring the rich history and tradition of previous inaugural journeys."
In the tradition of past Presidents-elect, the daylong trip will include a series of events on the way to Washington, DC. Saturday morning, President-elect Obama and his family will hold an event in Philadelphia before boarding a train bound for Wilmington, Delaware, where he will be joined by Vice President-elect Biden and his family. Together, the families will travel to Baltimore, Maryland, and hold another event, before finally arriving in Washington, D.C. on Saturday evening.
In keeping with the theme of the 2009 Inauguration, "Renewing America's Promise," the President-elect and Vice President-elect will hold events in some of the cities instrumental to that promise: Philadelphia, where that promise was realized; Baltimore, where that promise was defended, then immortalized in our national anthem; and Washington, where Americans of all backgrounds will gather over four days, united in common purpose and resolved to renew that promise once more.
It won't, however, be quite as easy to get the rest of the attendees to D.C.:
Even if only half of the projected 2 million to 4 million people show up for next month's presidential inauguration, the Washington region's roadways and transit systems will be too pressed to handle the crush, planners say.I am very excited about the inauguration and having a new president. I will admit feeling a little claustrophobic about the crowds descending on this city. Well, not so much about the crowds, but whether the city is prepared to handle the crowds.
Officials are working out details of their transportation plan for the event, but the capacity of the area's transit and road infrastructure, combined with strict security, means residents and potential visitors need to have realistic expectations about how quickly they will be able to move around on Jan. 20, officials said.
