Inauguration Day in the DC Area: How Jan. 20 Will Affect You

With the holidays over with, we in the D.C. area can now turn our sights to the spectacle that Inauguration Day will be on Jan. 20, and specifically how it's going to affect our lives with hundreds of thousands of outsiders flooding into the area.

Donald Trump's inauguration is going to have a profound effect on the area, and it will certainly disrupt the lives of locals. Since it falls on Friday, many people will be working while it's going on. Inauguration Day is a federal holiday, but not a public holiday, meaning that only federal employees in D.C. will observe it, although many private employers in the D.C. area will undoubtedly have employees telecommute if possible.

Here's what you can expect as far as transportation in both the District and the surrounding area on Friday, Jan. 20.

Traffic will be a mess: While the expected attendance of Donald Trump's inauguration at 800,000 pales in comparison to the 1.8 million people who showed up to see President Barack Obama be inaugurated back in 2009, that's a huge number of people to flood into the D.C. area. As a result, expect traffic to be terrible not just in D.C. but area-wide. So avoid I-66, I-270, I-95 and all the other major highways if you can.

Metro will be expensive, and crowded: WMATA is preparing for the event with a special Inaugural SmarTrip card that at $10 comes with a pre-loaded one-day pass. There will also be extended hours, with Metrorail opening bright and early at 4 a.m. and closing at its usual time of midnight. Additionally, the system will be instituting rush-hour service for 17 straight hours, from 4 a.m. until 9 p.m., and you will have to pay peak fares during that time, in addition to dealing with exceptionally crowded trains.

Uber "surge pricing" is a possibility: While Uber hasn't predicted how much surge price you'll have to endure on Inauguration Day, always use the fare estimator on the app to make sure you don't get a case of sticker shock if you decide to take an Uber.

Parking will be free, and will be a pain to find: As far as parking goes, it's probably a good idea not to try to park in D.C. However, if you're just going to be out and about elsewhere, you're in luck, as Inauguration Day means parking meters are not active and you will not have to pay.

Image via White House