How do I get to DCA tomorrow

[Anonymous]

Can you have someone drop you off at the metro station? Then you're not lugging your stuff much farther than you would if you drove, since the DCA metro station puts you right there. I bet metro will be pretty quiet tomorrow, too.

[Anonymous]

I'd leave early and have breakfast in Del Ray.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can you have someone drop you off at the metro station? Then you're not lugging your stuff much farther than you would if you drove, since the DCA metro station puts you right there. I bet metro will be pretty quiet tomorrow, too.

It has been my experience that Metro is tolerable on the way into town when big events are happening and fine during the event (until people start to leave).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you have someone drop you off at the metro station? Then you're not lugging your stuff much farther than you would if you drove, since the DCA metro station puts you right there. I bet metro will be pretty quiet tomorrow, too.

It has been my experience that Metro is tolerable on the way into town when big events are happening and fine during the event (until people start to leave).

Yes, and the stuff tomorrow is spread out throughout the day (other than the parade), and most importantly, relatively few people from the region will be going, as compared to say July 4 events on the Mall. Sure there will be some people from outside the region going, but not 100k+.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you have someone drop you off at the metro station? Then you're not lugging your stuff much farther than you would if you drove, since the DCA metro station puts you right there. I bet metro will be pretty quiet tomorrow, too.

It has been my experience that Metro is tolerable on the way into town when big events are happening and fine during the event (until people start to leave).

Yes, and the stuff tomorrow is spread out throughout the day (other than the parade), and most importantly, relatively few people from the region will be going, as compared to say July 4 events on the Mall. Sure there will be some people from outside the region going, but not 100k+.

Remember, also that DC‘s biggest high schools also have graduation that day and they are all having to reroute to get to the venues. There’s more going on in DC than just the dumb fiasco.

[Anonymous]

OP here - I’m traveling for the summer at my in laws house - that’s why I have multiple bags. I will recruit my husband to help me but I can’t take less bags.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Go around the Beltway to the toll road (267) to 66. Then take Glebe Road through Arlington to the airport. It's a lot longer with lots of lights but none of these roads risk being closed down. I would give yourself an hour just to get there just to be safe and I'm normally a person who gets to the airport at the last minute.

I despise metro but it honestly may be the best option tomorrow.

This. Yes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you have someone drop you off at the metro station? Then you're not lugging your stuff much farther than you would if you drove, since the DCA metro station puts you right there. I bet metro will be pretty quiet tomorrow, too.

It has been my experience that Metro is tolerable on the way into town when big events are happening and fine during the event (until people start to leave).

Yes, and the stuff tomorrow is spread out throughout the day (other than the parade), and most importantly, relatively few people from the region will be going, as compared to say July 4 events on the Mall. Sure there will be some people from outside the region going, but not 100k+.

Remember, also that DC‘s biggest high schools also have graduation that day and they are all having to reroute to get to the venues. There’s more going on in DC than just the dumb fiasco.

You are talking about maybe max 5k people associated with graduation, in a region of 6 million, when something like 400-500k come into DC on busy weekdays to work. A couple of streets around a school would get busy, simply too small to have a regional impact.

[Anonymous]

Any chance you have refundable tickets and there are decent flights out of BWI or Dulles?

We are also flying tomorrow, and I dq'd any flight out of DCA. And I don't usually worry about crazy DC closures, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I say this as someone who usually aims to get to the airport 60 mins before a flight and am often not there until 50 mins before (takeoff, not boarding time).

I would plan to be there by 10am. There is SO MUCH that can go wrong with your transit, there may be increased security, etc. I wouldn’t mess around tomorrow.

Saturday is by the quietest day at DCA. OP will be sitting around for 4 hours with this advice. I agree it will probably take longer than normal and OP may have to cross the river on the beltway and maybe come in on 66 and then snake around the Pentagon, but this is over the top.

OP, just pull up Waze at say 11 AM and see how long it is taking to drive to DCA. I am willing to bet it will be 10 minutes longer than normal because of the redirections. Regular people will not be anywhere near the central part of the area tomorrow, most roads will be quieter than normal.

Do not listen to this person. They are wildly incorrect with their assumptions about tomorrow.

Right now Google Maps says 40 minutes drive from downtown Bethesda to DCA Terminal 2. I will check at 11 AM tomorrow, and will post back here, and take my blows if it's more than an hour. If I had the ability, I would easily bet $5k at even odds it will.be under an hour.

And you’re absolutely positively sure that Google Maps is taking the parade and the military celebrations into account, as well as the as-yet uncounted numbers of people who may be unfamiliar with area roads in making this estimate? If so, hats off to Google Maps.

They use live data from actual travelers, so yes.

OK I'm really curious about how this works - live data is for today, correct? How would they anticipate what the traffic will be 24 hours in the future?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I say this as someone who usually aims to get to the airport 60 mins before a flight and am often not there until 50 mins before (takeoff, not boarding time).

I would plan to be there by 10am. There is SO MUCH that can go wrong with your transit, there may be increased security, etc. I wouldn’t mess around tomorrow.

Saturday is by the quietest day at DCA. OP will be sitting around for 4 hours with this advice. I agree it will probably take longer than normal and OP may have to cross the river on the beltway and maybe come in on 66 and then snake around the Pentagon, but this is over the top.

OP, just pull up Waze at say 11 AM and see how long it is taking to drive to DCA. I am willing to bet it will be 10 minutes longer than normal because of the redirections. Regular people will not be anywhere near the central part of the area tomorrow, most roads will be quieter than normal.

Do not listen to this person. They are wildly incorrect with their assumptions about tomorrow.

Right now Google Maps says 40 minutes drive from downtown Bethesda to DCA Terminal 2. I will check at 11 AM tomorrow, and will post back here, and take my blows if it's more than an hour. If I had the ability, I would easily bet $5k at even odds it will.be under an hour.

And you’re absolutely positively sure that Google Maps is taking the parade and the military celebrations into account, as well as the as-yet uncounted numbers of people who may be unfamiliar with area roads in making this estimate? If so, hats off to Google Maps.

They use live data from actual travelers, so yes.

OK I'm really curious about how this works - live data is for today, correct? How would they anticipate what the traffic will be 24 hours in the future?

Yes live data is based on people who have Google Maps running on their phones, it collects the GPS data as they drive, calculates speeds, collects it all to show lower speeds than normal, etc.

Projections for the future generally give you a range of time based on historic data for that day/time. But yes that's why it would be hard to tell what tomorrow will look like, because it won't be a normal June Saturday. Hence the need to look tomorrow at the specific time.

If you look right now for noon tomorrow, it says "typically 28 minutes to 1:05" and yes, does show a proposed route that avoids the GW Parkway where it is closed tomorrow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I say this as someone who usually aims to get to the airport 60 mins before a flight and am often not there until 50 mins before (takeoff, not boarding time).

I would plan to be there by 10am. There is SO MUCH that can go wrong with your transit, there may be increased security, etc. I wouldn’t mess around tomorrow.

Saturday is by the quietest day at DCA. OP will be sitting around for 4 hours with this advice. I agree it will probably take longer than normal and OP may have to cross the river on the beltway and maybe come in on 66 and then snake around the Pentagon, but this is over the top.

OP, just pull up Waze at say 11 AM and see how long it is taking to drive to DCA. I am willing to bet it will be 10 minutes longer than normal because of the redirections. Regular people will not be anywhere near the central part of the area tomorrow, most roads will be quieter than normal.

And if you look for 9 PM on Sunday, it says "typically 30-40 minutes" and suggests going via GW Parkway.

Do not listen to this person. They are wildly incorrect with their assumptions about tomorrow.

Right now Google Maps says 40 minutes drive from downtown Bethesda to DCA Terminal 2. I will check at 11 AM tomorrow, and will post back here, and take my blows if it's more than an hour. If I had the ability, I would easily bet $5k at even odds it will.be under an hour.

And you’re absolutely positively sure that Google Maps is taking the parade and the military celebrations into account, as well as the as-yet uncounted numbers of people who may be unfamiliar with area roads in making this estimate? If so, hats off to Google Maps.

They use live data from actual travelers, so yes.

OK I'm really curious about how this works - live data is for today, correct? How would they anticipate what the traffic will be 24 hours in the future?

Yes live data is based on people who have Google Maps running on their phones, it collects the GPS data as they drive, calculates speeds, collects it all to show lower speeds than normal, etc.

Projections for the future generally give you a range of time based on historic data for that day/time. But yes that's why it would be hard to tell what tomorrow will look like, because it won't be a normal June Saturday. Hence the need to look tomorrow at the specific time.

If you look right now for noon tomorrow, it says "typically 28 minutes to 1:05" and yes, does show a proposed route that avoids the GW Parkway where it is closed tomorrow.

[Anonymous]

Metro?
But why not go through the district? Cross chain bridge or key bridge and take Langston to 66 or 110.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I say this as someone who usually aims to get to the airport 60 mins before a flight and am often not there until 50 mins before (takeoff, not boarding time).

I would plan to be there by 10am. There is SO MUCH that can go wrong with your transit, there may be increased security, etc. I wouldn’t mess around tomorrow.

Saturday is by the quietest day at DCA. OP will be sitting around for 4 hours with this advice. I agree it will probably take longer than normal and OP may have to cross the river on the beltway and maybe come in on 66 and then snake around the Pentagon, but this is over the top.

OP, just pull up Waze at say 11 AM and see how long it is taking to drive to DCA. I am willing to bet it will be 10 minutes longer than normal because of the redirections. Regular people will not be anywhere near the central part of the area tomorrow, most roads will be quieter than normal.

We haven't had a military parade since the 90s. The mapping apps have no idea how to model and predict traffic for this scenario. It will use what is typical for a Saturday, and treat road closures as if they were closed for construction rather than a massive event. Best case it uses a marathon model, but who knows.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I say this as someone who usually aims to get to the airport 60 mins before a flight and am often not there until 50 mins before (takeoff, not boarding time).

I would plan to be there by 10am. There is SO MUCH that can go wrong with your transit, there may be increased security, etc. I wouldn’t mess around tomorrow.

Saturday is by the quietest day at DCA. OP will be sitting around for 4 hours with this advice. I agree it will probably take longer than normal and OP may have to cross the river on the beltway and maybe come in on 66 and then snake around the Pentagon, but this is over the top.

OP, just pull up Waze at say 11 AM and see how long it is taking to drive to DCA. I am willing to bet it will be 10 minutes longer than normal because of the redirections. Regular people will not be anywhere near the central part of the area tomorrow, most roads will be quieter than normal.

Do not listen to this person. They are wildly incorrect with their assumptions about tomorrow.

Right now Google Maps says 40 minutes drive from downtown Bethesda to DCA Terminal 2. I will check at 11 AM tomorrow, and will post back here, and take my blows if it's more than an hour. If I had the ability, I would easily bet $5k at even odds it will.be under an hour.

And you’re absolutely positively sure that Google Maps is taking the parade and the military celebrations into account, as well as the as-yet uncounted numbers of people who may be unfamiliar with area roads in making this estimate? If so, hats off to Google Maps.

They use live data from actual travelers, so yes.

OK I'm really curious about how this works - live data is for today, correct? How would they anticipate what the traffic will be 24 hours in the future?

Yes live data is based on people who have Google Maps running on their phones, it collects the GPS data as they drive, calculates speeds, collects it all to show lower speeds than normal, etc.

Projections for the future generally give you a range of time based on historic data for that day/time. But yes that's why it would be hard to tell what tomorrow will look like, because it won't be a normal June Saturday. Hence the need to look tomorrow at the specific time.

If you look right now for noon tomorrow, it says "typically 28 minutes to 1:05" and yes, does show a proposed route that avoids the GW Parkway where it is closed tomorrow.

Even live data will be of limited use. Just because someone made it through in 45 min and arrived now -- you can see building traffic but there are so many variables and other dynamics that are specific to this event.