Yesterday, we saw dudes in plows idling. The snow hadn't started falling. It would be hours. But, there, on the Virginia toll road to Leesburg, there was a plow ready to go.

This morning at about 9:00 a.m.., Mount Pleasant Street NW hadn't been plowed. And Irving Street was only partially cleared. Within an hour, they were looking a lot better?

How are your streets looking? Which streets need a plow?

People got tired of trying to leave the city:

Cops could have used these:

"Three Million People Trapped On The Mall." This was the headline my travelling companion had given the moment. She was sure it would be the headline of the day. Not Obama's historic presidency. Not Obama's speech. Not Michelle Obama's dress. But the hell that was the mass exodus off the Mall.

If you wanted chaos, cops offering either lousy directives or attitude, and mobs of people pushing in all directions then you had a good time. For everyone else, it just sucked.

If you thought memorizing the inauguration map made you safe---you were wrong. When we arrived at our first idea of an out--the 3rd Street tunnel, cops said it was closed. It may have opened at some point. But not for us and thousands of others. If you bothered to ask the cops for an explanation, the cops weren't interested.

There was one case where I can't blame the cops for giving the cold shoulder. One guy at 3rd and Independence asked: "Where's the parade at?" Some people should have studied up before this morning!

So we decided to head west on Independence. Any spot near a metro was a total standstill. Gridlock. Hell. Whatever you want to call it. The cop to people ratio was like 1 to 5,000. All cops we talked to either didn't know where anything was or could not explain why a street was closed. If you thought the cops would do some kind of traffic control, forget it. Old ladies w/ canes---they were on their own. Etc.

Read More "Leaving the Mall: Hopeless" »

Traffic deadlocks. Detoured buses. Jammed Metro. The city’s roads and railways are completely inundated and it’s gridlock-inducing. But if there’s one traffic channel that hasn’t experienced unendurable congestion (unless you're trying to go from the swearing-in to the parade route), it’s the bike lanes. D.C. Pedicab recognized the inauguration for its unique chance to drum up business. And it needed more drivers.

Josh Sachs, part-time mechanic at Silver Bikes in Silver Spring, heard D.C. Pedicab was looking for people for inaugural week. As a bike enthusiast who is desperate for work, Sachs jumped on the opportunity to get paid for spinning. And he's prepared for the forecast: “I got my leather motorcycle boots and this thick layered jacket that I bought just for this job. Yeah, it gets really cold.”

Read More "Joe Temp: Josh Sachs" »

The elderly woman who caused the Red Line to come to a standstill this morning at Gallery Place/Chinatown is apparently fine, according to Metro spokesman Steven Taubenkibel. The 68-year-old woman (Metro doesn't ID passengers by policy) was not hit by the train but merely fell onto the track. Her injuries are non-life-threatening.

"They were just very minor," Taubenkibel says.

All rail lines are again operational. Metro is advising the crush of humanity entering downtown stations to stay at least two feet away from the edge of the platform.

Meanwhile, as of 1 p.m., more than 585,000 people have taken a Metro train today, the spokesman says. The lines to get into downtown stations are long. "It is taking some time to get in," Taubenkibel says, "but people are getting in."

Metro is not providing estimates on how long it may take riders to board a train, let alone reach their destination. In other words, take another swig from your concealed flask and relax. It'll be awhile.

In a recent City Desk poll of the city's worst bus lines, one in particular got a whole lot of attention: The 42, which runs from Mount Pleasant to downtown via Adams Morgan and Dupont Circle.

Looks like the 42's about to get a bastard cousin.

Blogger Connetiquette Ave discovers through his eagle eyes that Metro has posted signs for a new 43 line, though no information about the route has been published in public fora, including its new Web site.

So he made like a reporter and called Metro and found out that, yes indeed, a 43 line will be in place starting Dec. 28. Here's the skinny:

It will be a weekday rush hour only service, between 750am and 915am (meaning it will only run Southbound). About 1/2 of the buses currently designated as 42s will henceforth be badged as 43s. It will run between Mount Pleasant and Farragut Square. It seems to me that the 43 will just be the 42 buses that currently run between MtP and FSq - so there will be no service increases or reductions.

Bah!