One local inauguration tradition that Washingtonians won’t see this year is a commemorative SmarTrip card featuring incoming President Joe Biden. Metro nixed the usual inauguration-themed design: “With the new security and service plans, we are not encouraging travel to the Inauguration as there are no public events,” a Metro spokesperson wrote to Washingtonian in an email.
Commemorative cards are typically popular for major events, like the cherry blossom festival or the Nationals’ World Series victory. Four years ago, Metro released a generic White House design inauguration card to mark Trump’s inauguration. It was a slight controversy that they didn’t include a photograph of him, which Metro later said was due to the fact that the campaign had not responded to their request for an image. Later, they released a sleeve with Trump’s face on it featuring his MAGA slogan.
Barack Obama was pictured grinning on the two previous inauguration cards, in 2009 and 2013, which became a coveted piece of presidential memorabilia.
Rosa is a senior editor at Bitch Magazine. She’s written for Washingtonian and Smithsonian magazine.
