Security planners say they are prepared to handle a crush of visitors for President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration despite the expected overloading of the city’s transit system. Estimates of the number of people expected to be on hand Jan. 20 when Obama takes the oath of office have ranged from 1 million to 4 million. At a news conference yesterday, officials would not give a precise estimate. But U.S. Secret Service special agent Malcolm D. Wiley Sr. said he expected the actual number of attendees will not fall on the high end of that estimate spectrum.

On her lunch break, Angela Roberts searched a souvenir store for a keepsake of Barack Obama’s election as president. Roberts wanted something small, maybe a bookmark, so that, she said, she could keep thoughts of Obama’s victory close by. “When an event of this magnitude happens, it seems like it’s human nature to want to have some evidence,“ said Roberts, 51, of Sterling, Va.

From the Lincoln Memorial to the U.S. Capitol, more people than ever will be able to witness Barack Obama’s swearing-in from the National Mall.

The Staples Mill Road Amtrak station has more than 700 ticket reservations for travelers headed to Washington on sold-out trains the morning of the Jan. 20 presidential inauguration, but only 288 parking places. That has Henrico County working to find additional parking and provide traffic control for the historic day. Shuttling passengers from the park-and-ride lot on Glenside Drive is one possibility, said Henrico Supervisor Richard W. Glover, whose Brookland District includes the station. With more than a quarter-million people getting on and off the trains annually, the station is Virginia’s busiest.