The Women’s March on Washington is underway—that is, if they can get through the D.C. Metro stations first.
Twitter users attending the march have posted photos showing congested areas through the Washington area’s subway stations and trains. It appears to be an amazingly empowering scene with a side of slight inconvenience.
https://twitter.com/jayasax/status/822786442510368771
https://twitter.com/jayasax/status/822791537025228800
https://twitter.com/jayasax/status/822807724874493952
https://twitter.com/jrud/status/822812559086616576
Thing that never happens on Metro: overcrowded train pulls into station, and people waiting on platform cheer instead of groan #WomensMarch
— Mike Memoli (@mikememoli) January 21, 2017
Chanting while waiting for the train: “Hey, hey, ho, ho, the patriarchy has got to go!” pic.twitter.com/upSB9vSlMw
— Matt Pearce 🦅🇺🇸 (@mattdpearce) January 21, 2017
Every car in every train is PACKED at Huntington Station going into D.C. #WomensMarch pic.twitter.com/Jl0m3uYR58
— Anne Robotti (@arobotti) January 21, 2017
https://twitter.com/periodsforpols/status/822818933178855425
The subway station is PACKED! #WomensMarch pic.twitter.com/g3Tb5GBYIF
— Mark Dixon (@bluelensllc) January 21, 2017
This echoes the nearly-all Women’s March flights coming into the city on Friday. But airplane cabins lit pink and “nasty women” greetings from flight attendants have been swapped Saturday for longer wait times and packed train cars.
“In general [there are] really packed subways and lots of frustration that they weren’t opening the Metro gates for everyone. But people were shouting and chanting in the stations already,” Daily Dot writer Jaya Saxena reported. Having left for the march at 8am ET, Saxena took 10 minutes to get through the Springfield Metro station and another 20 minutes to get to the march.
But many others have waited much longer.
Metro station line at around 9. Just got on a train at 10:10. #womensmarch pic.twitter.com/tLLGTkaMvu
— Mary (@marywitha4) January 21, 2017
Wow. Line outside Takoma metro station on way to #WomensMarch – Never seen that before pic.twitter.com/uTXXZF8p79
— #StopCopCity (@ChuckModi1) January 21, 2017
https://twitter.com/livetowonder/status/822820846565728258
https://twitter.com/ckbarrett/status/822817094588895236
Aside from the prolonged wait times to get onto the train, reporters following both the inauguration and the Women’s March have noticed the … interesting discrepancy between the Metro volume of the last two days. And the numbers provided by the Washington D.C. area transit authority don’t lie.
As reported by CNN, as of 11am ET on President Donald Trump‘s Inauguration Day, 193,000 trips had been made on the Metro subway system. However, in 2009 by that same hour, 513,000 trips had been taken for President Barack Obama‘s first inauguration. And in 2005, 197,000 trips had been taken for President George W. Bush’s second inauguration.
According to the Metro Authority, Saturday’s ridership as of 11am ET is already at 275,000—what they say is eight times a normal Saturday and busier than most weekdays.
Metro Ridership as of 11am: 275k. For comparison, that’s more than 8x a normal Sat & even busier than most weekdays. #wmata #womensmarch
— Metro Forward (@wmata) January 21, 2017
Twitter users and reporters backed up the numbers, too.
1. My train to the inauguration;
2. My train to the Women’s March — or it was supposed to be, but it was too full for me to get on. pic.twitter.com/AbnPNEOZ27— Matt Pearce 🦅🇺🇸 (@mattdpearce) January 21, 2017
https://twitter.com/CharlotteAlter/status/822809679118090241
https://twitter.com/JoeBerkowitz/status/822810170581483522
It seems like the #metro is much more crowded for today’s #WomensMarch than yesterday’s #Inauguration @wboc pic.twitter.com/6BbJG4uA1k
— Lauren Holloway (@lhollowayPR) January 21, 2017
Packed 8am Metro for the #WomensMarch. Vs.
Empty Metro for Trump’s inauguration yesterday… pic.twitter.com/DyotFIpnDt— Jeff Raines (@Jeff_Raines) January 21, 2017
Metro was half empty for #Inauguration
Today: Crowds overwhelming Metro for #WomensMarch pic.twitter.com/lE1tL5G5Oa— Steven Dennis (@StevenTDennis) January 21, 2017
Great job, ladies—it’s not even noon and you’re already shuttin’ shit down! Here’s to hoping that your hour-plus-long commute clears up soon, however…
https://twitter.com/jrud/status/822799739439738881
