At an impromptu press meeting on Tuesday evening, Mayor Muriel Bowser said she was “shocked” by Metro’s closure on Wednesday. She explained that D.C. would treat the shutdown as “a homeland security event” like a blizzard or hurricane. Bowser said she was not involved in the decision, but that she didn’t feel “kept out of the loop.” Asked if she would have approached the situation differently, Bowser said she didn’t have the information to say one way or the other, adding that she will ask Metro what other options it had.

“We want to open school, and it is important to us to have the kids have instruction, so a problem on Metro shouldn’t lead to kids not having instruction,” the mayor said . “Our focus is going to be on how do we get, if we can, additional bus capacity on the high-ridership routes, and we know where they are.”

Bowser also mentioned that DDOT would deploy traffic-control officers to help manage drivers tomorrow.

Traffic Control Officers and Safety Technicians will be positioned at key locations beginning at 4 a.m. to assist with traffic flow.

— DDOT DC (@DDOTDC) March 15, 2016

DDOT is also suspending all construction related activity under public space permits beginning from 5:30 am -9:30 am and 3:30 pm to 8 p.m.

— DDOT DC (@DDOTDC) March 15, 2016

We’re offering free 24h memberships at all 370 stations tomorrow, & Corral Service downtown. Usage fees still apply. https://t.co/JFJbX3zFzA

— Capital Bikeshare (@bikeshare) March 15, 2016

Parking will be free on Wednesday, 3/16 in all Metro owned lots and garages for customers taking bus or carpooling. #wmata

— Metro (@wmata) March 15, 2016

Photo by Darrow Montgomery