Politics & Government
Trump Inauguration Day 2017: Metro Ridership Lowest in Years
Ridership was down across Washington DC's metro system on day of Trump's presidential inauguration compared to previous inaugurals.
WASHINGTON, DC -- One measure of the number of people who attended President Donald Trump's inauguration Friday: Metro ridership. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority posted numbers Friday that show there were 193,000 riders as of 11 a.m., 124,000 fewer people riding Metro than there were at President Obama's second inauguration and 320,000 fewer than his first inauguration in 2009. It was most comparable to President George W. Bush's 2005 inauguration.
Trump became the country's 45th president at about 12 noon Friday, when he took the oath of office on the west front of the U.S. Capitol.
Metro’s average weekday ridership for 2016 is 639,000, according to WMATA. It's uncertain if that number is for the entire day or for 11 a.m. on a typical weekday.
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Here are the numbers for Metro ridership, as of 11 a.m. Friday and for the past three previous inaugurals:
- Trump inauguration Friday: 193,000
- Obama inauguration 2013: 317,000
- Obama inauguration 2009: 513,000
- Bush inauguration 2005: 197,000
PHOTO of metro/Patch archive
Find out what's happening in Washington DCfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
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