By Plane, Train and Bus: Hundreds of Thousands Flock to DC for March
Social media also floods with images of passengers aboard other flights en route to the Women's March on Washington
By Liz Lane and Ben Feuerherd ••
Marchers by the hundreds of thousands flocked to Washington, D.C., by train, bus and plane for the Women's March on Washington Saturday.
A city official said the turnout estimate for the Women's March on the National Mall hit 500,000 people—more than double the initial predictions.
There were early signs across Washington that Saturday's crowds could top those that gathered on Friday to watch President Donald Trump's inauguration.
One of those marchers, Jamaine Cripe said she and about 700 other demonstrators packed a South Orange, New Jersey, train station parking lot at 4:30 a.m. Saturday, waiting to be loaded onto buses.
Cripe, a religious educator who turns 46 Saturday, said the process went off without a hitch.
"Getting on the bus was a breeze," Cripe said. "We were on the road in 10 minutes."
Ashley Judd recited a spoken-word poem written by Nina, a 19-year-old woman in Tennessee, at the Women’s March in Washington, DC, on Jan. 21.
In New York, the demand for bus tickets caused delays on Greyhound buses destined for the march.
A total of 18 extra Greyhound buses were added to the 3:45 a.m. schedule, but the short notice meant some buses didn't get drivers on time. A Greyhound spokeswoman said the buses left by 6:30 a.m. and there were no further delays. Demonstrators said there were postponements on Peter Pan as well. The bus company didn't respond to a call seeking comment.
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Protesters make their way through the streets of London during the Women's March on Jan. 21, 2017 in London, England.
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Demonstrators make their way through the streets of London during the Women's March on Jan. 21, 2017 in London, England.
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Some 30 people joined the global Women's March from Antarctica. Linda Zunas tweeted photos of the march from the seventh continent, with demonstrators holding signs reading "Penguins March for Peace" from Paradise Bay, Antarctica, on Jan. 21, 2016.
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Demonstrators carrying banners and placards take part in a Women's March rally next to the Eiffel Tower, in Paris, France, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017.
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Demonstrators make their way during the Women's March on Jan. 21, 2017 in Barcelona, Spain.
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Thousands of people march on 42nd street during the Women's March on January 21, 2017 in New York City. The Midtown Manhattan event was one of many nationwide that came a day after Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States.
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Activists hold a banner that reads "Women's March against Fascism" during the Women's March rally in Belgrade, Serbia, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017.
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Thousands of people march up Queen Street on Jan. 21, 2017 in Auckland, New Zealand. The marches in New Zealand were organized to show solidarity with those marching on Washington D.C. and around the world.
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A demonstrator participates in a Women's March Saturday Jan. 21, 2017 in Philadelphia.
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Activists participate in the Women's March rally in Kolkata, India, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017.
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Demonstrators hold placards during a protest outside the U.S. embassy in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv against President Donald Trump, mirroring worldwide demonstrations to mark his first full day in office, on Jan. 21, 2017.
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Demonstrators chant as they arrive in Trafalgar Square during the Women's March on Jan. 21, 2017 in London, England.
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Demonstrators fill the streets of downtown Los Angeles as they gather for the Women's March Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017.
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Demonstrators take part in the Melbourne women's rights rally on Jan. 21, 2017 in Melbourne, Australia.
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Demonstrators make their way from the iamsterdam statue in front of the Rijksmuseum towards US Consulate during the Women's March held at Museumplein on Jan. 21, 2017 in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
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A marcher holds a sign during the women's march rally in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017.
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Crowds gather for The Women's March on Main covered by The IMDb Studio during The 2017 Sundance Film Festival on Jan. 21, 2017 in Park City, Utah.
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A woman wearing a USA flag as her headscarf attends a rally for women's rights and freedom in solidarity with the Women's March on Washington in front of Brandenburger Tor on Jan. 21, 2017 in Berlin, Germany.
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TV and radio host Alison Mau joins thousands of people marching up Queen Street on Jan. 21, 2017 in Auckland, New Zealand. The marches in New Zealand were organized to show solidarity with those marching on Washington D.C. and around the world in defense of women's rights and human rights.
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A young girl holds a "women's rights are human rights" sign at Roadhouse BBQ restaurant where many of the Bangkok Women's March participants gathered on Jan. 21, 2017 in Bangkok, Thailand.
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Demonstrators take part in the Melbourne rally to protest against the Trump Inauguration on Jan. 21, 2017 in Melbourne, Australia. The marches in Australia were organized to show solidarity with those marching on Washington D.C. and around the world.
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Demonstrators participate in the March In Defense Of Women's Rights outside of the Music Farm on Jan. 21, 2017, in Columbia, South Carolina. The event was one of hundreds of rallies and marches in more than 20 different countries inspired by the Women's March in the nation's capital.
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Demonstrators join the march for women's rights in Brussels, Belgium.
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Hundreds of thousands of people assemble on the National Mall during the Women's March on Washington Jan. 21, 2017 in Washington, D.C.
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Kate Weigel, right, of Brewer, Massachusetts, cheers as participants start marching during a women's march in New York, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017.
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Jennifer Beals, Chelsea Handler and Charlize Theron participates in the Women's March on Main Street Park City on Jan. 21, 2017 in Park City, Utah.
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Cher arrives for the Women's March on Washington on Independence Ave. on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017 in Washington.
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Demonstrators gathered in Des Moines, Iowa, in solidarity with the hundreds of sister marches happening across the United States on Jan. 21, 2017.
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Women march from Syntagma Square to the U.S. embassy in Athens, Greece, during the Women's March against the new U.S. President Donald Trump, in Greece, Jan. 21, 2017.
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Demonstrators gather on Boston Common during the Boston Women's March for America on Jan. 21, 2017 in Boston, Massachusetts.
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Protesters listen to speeches in Trafalgar Square, London, after taking part in a march to promote women's rights in the wake of the US election result on Jan. 21, 2017.
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Protesters cheer at the Women's March on Jan. 21, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois.
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Demonstrators gather in front of the U.S. embassy on Jan. 21, 2017 in Lisbon, Portugal. Simultaneous demonstrations were staged, mainly by women, in many different countries.
In Maryland, Rose Wurm got on her bus at 7 a.m. in Hagerstown, ready for the ride to Washington.
The 64-year-old retired medical secretary from Bedford, Pennsylvania, carried two signs. One asks President Donald Trump to stop tweeting. Another asks him to fix ex-President Barack Obama's health care law, rather than get rid of it.
Michael Moore spoke at the Women’s March in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 21, with a dual message of the accomplishment at the number of people who were in attendance — hundreds of thousands across the city — and of resistance towards the Trump presidency.
Cripe and Wurm were riding two of the roughly 1,800 buses that registered to park in Washington on Saturday. That translated into nearly 100,000 people coming for the march just by bus.
One company had buses coming from more than 200 cities in 26 states. It was using school buses to bring people to the march from Maryland.
In the air, a Southwest flight full of women flying to Washington lit up with pink lights in the cabin in apparent solidarity with the passengers.
"When your Southwest flight crew celebrate a plane full of kicka-- women and men going to the Women's March by lighting it up!! #lit #womensmarchonwashington #lovetrumpshate," passenger Krystal Parrish wrote on Instagram with a picture of the light pink hues.
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In a statement, Southwest Airlines said the lighting was not a company-wide initiative, but that crews on flights sometimes adjust lighting based on passengers aboard.
"Some of our aircraft are equipped with mood lighting and while this was not a company-wide initiative, at times, our flight crews will adjust the lighting for a customer or group of customers traveling on their flight," the statement said. "For example, in October, one of our Flight Crews changed the lighting to honor a breast cancer survivor on board their flight."
A passenger on a flight from Chicago to Baltimore Thursday called the light adjustment was a welcome surprise.
Gloria Steinem spoke at the Women’s March in Washington, DC, amidst a foggy sky and thousands of people wearing pink hats. “This is the upside of the downside,” she said gesturing to the crowd. “This is an outpouring of energy and democracy like I have never seen in my very long life.”
"It was unexpected and unannounced," passenger Jennifer Moran told NBC in an email. "There was no announcement explicitly from the staff and no one screamed this is for the march. Nothing, just spontaneous and everyone knew exactly why they were cheering."
By early Saturday morning dozens of others had shared photos and videos on social media showing passengers celebrating en route to the march.
In one video posted to Twitter, a flight attendant was heard welcoming passengers to Baltimore and requesting a round of applause for all the "nasty women" attending the March on Washington. She then reminded them to stay hydrated and to remember that "we don't take no ish from no man."
In another video clip, a passenger aboard an Air Canada flight from Toronto asked who else was going to the march, which prompted a loud, cheering affirmation.
