"Capital Projects": Transportation Planning for Major Events in Washington, DC
By Alex Webb, Transportation Engineer
While the District of Columbia is known as a bike- and pedestrian-friendly city, hosting major national events every year presents significant traffic flow and parking challenges for the nation’s capital. How does the city prepare its transportation system for an influx of hundreds of thousands of visitors for standing events, like the Capitol Fourth Fireworks or the Presidential Inauguration, First Amendment events such as March for Our Lives in 2017, or unexpected ones such as the 2018 Capital’s Stanley Cup Final and the National’s World Series run in 2019?
Traffic Operations and Parking Plans (TOPPs) are a critical piece of the District’s multimodal success during major events. Sam Schwartz has assisted the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) in drafting these plans since 2008, beginning with President Obama’s first inauguration in early 2009, which was attended by 1.8 million people. Through close coordination between DDOT, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), and other agency event-day staff, we’re able to "make the journey better” for event attendees and residents by ensuring safe, efficient, and accessible mobility, with a particular focus on promoting non-auto modes.
Presidential Inaugurations
Presidential inauguration planning and operations is led by the US Secret Service (USSS) and involves coordination between 60 federal, state, local, and regional agencies. Sam Schwartz has been involved in preparing a TOPP for the last four inaugurations (including the 2021 inauguration). The TOPP serves as the operational blueprint for government staff on Inauguration Day.
Sam Schwartz worked alongside DDOT, metropolitan police, USSS and other stakeholders to determine and document the areas around the National Mall that would be inaccessible by vehicle; this included the streets closed to through traffic or with parking restrictions, the geofenced areas for dockless micromobility devices, restrictions on transportation network companies, adjustments to bus routes, closures of Metro stations, and restrictions on bikeshare stations. To compensate for the limited vehicle access, Sam Schwartz created wayfinding maps that showed temporary shuttle routes and walking routes to reach the National Mall. The TOPP also detailed tour bus parking locations and a plan to communicate roadway detours to drivers with Variable Message Signs (VMS) and specialized apps. Finally, Sam Schwartz worked across government agencies to create walk-out and evacuation plans in case of emergency.
Fourth of July at the National Mall
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of visitors to the nation’s capital for the Fourth of July has varied significantly since 2020. Each year, Sam Schwartz has worked with DDOT and MPD to determine an appropriate level of staffing and roadway closures given the anticipated number of visitors. Because parking is limited around the National Mall on July 4th, Sam Schwartz created a plan to encourage walking, biking, and taking transit. This plan elaborated bike valet locations and walking routes to and from each metro station.
Public safety is a crucial consideration of the operations planning process for the Fourth of July. Sam Schwartz has helped plan and document emergency evacuation routes, traffic control officer staffing locations and shifts, and emergency equipment staging locations, among other safety measures.
Nationals 2019 World Series Championship
On three consecutive October evenings in 2019, over 40,000 fans watched the Nationals in the World Series at Nationals Park. Accommodating the sold-out crowd on the transportation network required a detailed operations plan. DDOT implemented numerous road closures around the stadium to effectively create a pedestrian-only zone. Sam Schwartz helped create the street closure plan and a new traffic pattern designed to flush out traffic from the stadium parking garages as quickly as possible after each game.
Winning the World Series wasn’t the end of the TOPP process. Following Game 7, Sam Schwartz worked with DDOT to prepare an operation plan for the National’s Victory Parade around the National Mall.
Supplementing Washington, DC’s transportation infrastructure with an effective operations plan has been critical to the multimodal success of the city. Sam Schwartz has contributed national experience in bicycle and pedestrian planning to these operations plans and continues to collaborate with stakeholders in the District to improve safety and operations during major events. The 2021 Presidential Inauguration, Fourth of July, and 2019 World Series were events that exhibit the effectiveness of restricting vehicle access and encouraging large crowds to travel by foot, bike, or transit.