WASHINGTON - President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration is expected to draw a million-plus to the U.S. capital city, and already some lawmakers have stopped taking ticket requests and hotels have booked up.
Some people are bartering on the Web site Craigslist for places to stay for the Jan. 20 ceremony when the Illinois senator takes the oath of office, becoming the country's first black president.
They're offering cash or even help with dishes for residents willing to open up their homes.
The National Park Service, which is planning for an inaugural crowd of at least one million, will clear more viewing space along the Pennsylvania Avenue parade route.
Jumbo TV screens will line the National Mall so people can watch the inauguration and parade, says park service spokesman David Barna.
Washington D.C.'s delegate to Congress, Eleanor Holmes Norton, is urging planners to use arenas and stadiums to help with overflow crowds wanting to view the ceremonies on big-screen TVs.
She's also urging churches to hold viewing parties.
"You can't judge by past inaugurations. It's going to break all the records," Norton said. "They're going to come with or without tickets. It's each man and woman for himself."
The city's police chief, Cathy Lanier, said organizers brought in an additional 3,000 officers from forces around the country to help with the last inauguration.
This time, the request probably will be for about 4,000 officers.
Because of a lawsuit, people should have more standing room along the crowded parade route.
War protesters sued after President George W. Bush's last inauguration, forcing the government to open up more free public viewing space between the Capitol and White House.
U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman ruled in March that the park service violated its own rules by giving preferential treatment in ticketing for bleacher seats along the parade route for supporters of the government over its critics.
Friedman wrote the inauguration "is not a private event."
New rules to be issued Monday will lower the number of ticketed bleacher seats along the parade route from 20,000 seats to 8,700, leaving much more of the route open to people without tickets, Barna said.
Seat tickets had sold for between $15 and $150 in 2005 to help pay for the inaugural parade. Details for the 2009 parade tickets have not been set because Obama's Presidential Inaugural Committee, which organizes the parade, is being formed.
There will also be designated "free speech" areas for protesters along the parade route, Barna said.
The inauguration has been designated a National Special Security Event, giving the U.S. Secret Service the lead in co-ordinating all law enforcement agencies to secure the event.
There are 58 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies working together.
The largest crowd ever recorded on the National Mall was for President Lyndon B. Johnson's 1965 inauguration.
At the time, the park service estimated 1.2 million people descended on the area.
In 1981, President Ronald Ronald Reagan's inauguration drew about 500,000 people, and President Bill Clinton's 1993 inauguration drew about 800,000 people, according to park service estimates.
Congressional offices are reporting tens of thousands of requests from their constituents for the 240,000 tickets for the inauguration ceremony.
As of Thursday, the office of Senator Jim Webb, a Virginia Democrat, had received 26,000 requests.
EBay Inc., the parent company of listing and sales sites eBay, StubHub and Kijiji, said it will not allow tickets to the inauguration to be sold on its Web sites.
The company made the decision after meeting with committee representatives.
Feinstein wants to prevent ticket sales. Tickets are supposed to be distributed for free through congressional offices.
The inauguration will come at the end of a four-day holiday for federal workers, following the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on Jan. 19. Many area schools and some universities have cancelled classes or are considering it.
