Four million people expected at Barack Obama's inauguration

More than four million people are expected at the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama, nearly four times more people than any previous event in Washington D.C.

Typically, 250,000 people are given free tickets to watch the president’s inauguration held at the Mall in Washington D.C., and more visitors flock to a parade route. The usual turnout is usually less than one million people. But at the next inauguration scheduled for Jan. 20, 2009, there will be at least three to four million visitors according to the Washington Post. Washington D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and others have a lot of work to do to control the traffic and the crowd at Obama's inauguration. The Secret Service and other agencies will also have a huge job in maintaining the crowds and providing security for the President-elect and President Bush. The crowd numbers were estimated after the meetings with federal and the local officials, according to the mayor. Officials are planning to install Jumbo Trons (large TV screens) at the Mall and along the parade route so everyone can watch the landmark event. The mayor said he will work with federal and local officials and help prepare the event in the coming weeks. The mayor told the Washington Post:.

"We have a great blueprint from years past, and we will follow that...But we will start to make exceptions and deviations because, by everyone's estimation, we will have crowds that will be two, three, maybe even four times as large as the largest inaugural. . . . One of the biggest exceptions would be to open up the Mall.

Obama is not new to the large crowd scenario; in Berlin, nearly 200,000 attended a speech he gave; in Denver, 84,000 attended his Democratic Party’s nomination; and on election night, about 200,000 attended Chicago’s Grant Park for his victory speech. Fenty expects people will camp overnight to get close to the swearing-in ceremony, so the crowds will start to swell even before the event.