Getting Around the USA: Cars, Transit, Planes and Trains

Transportation in the United States is built around the car. Outside a handful of big cities, driving is a daily necessity and not a choice. For long trips Americans fly, and passenger rail plays a small role outside the Northeast. Knowing this hierarchy helps whether you are planning a road trip or choosing where to live. This page compares the options for daily life and for travel between cities, and points out what most often surprises visitors and newcomers.

Prices, routes and rules change. Fares and tolls below are approximate or dated; check with operators before you travel.

A Country Built for Cars

Postwar America spread out along highways, with suburbs of single-family homes, shopping centers on the edge of town and wide roads built for traffic. In most midsize cities and suburbs, homes, jobs, schools and stores are too far apart to reach on foot, and public transit is thin or absent. Over 90% of US households have at least one vehicle.

Owning a car means more than the purchase price. Budget for insurance, fuel, maintenance, parking and tolls, and see our cost of living guide. Insurance is often expensive for newcomers with no US record. Our driving guide covers licenses and road rules. Distances are in miles and speeds in mph; our miles to km converter helps with both. Fuel is sold by the gallon (about 3.8 liters).

Public Transit in Cities

Quality varies more than anything else about US transportation:

• New York is in a class of its own. The subway runs 24 hours a day, and more than half of city households have no car. Drivers entering Manhattan south of 60th Street pay a congestion toll, $9 at peak times for most cars with E-ZPass as of 2026.
• Washington D.C., Chicago, Boston, San Francisco and Philadelphia have useful rail networks: Metro, the "L", the "T", BART and Muni, and SEPTA. Living without a car is realistic, especially near the center.
• Most other cities have buses, and sometimes light rail, with limited frequency and evening service. Transit can help, but rarely replaces a car.

Many systems now accept tap-to-pay bank cards or phones, which saves visitors from buying a local pass. Bike-share programs exist in many cities.

Comparing Your Options

Flying

The US is huge, about 2,800 miles (4,500 km) coast to coast, and flying is the default for long trips. Airlines work through hubs such as Atlanta, Dallas, Denver and Chicago. The main carriers are American, Delta and United, with Southwest, Alaska, JetBlue and budget airlines such as Frontier and Allegiant filling out the market. Spirit Airlines, once a major budget carrier, stopped flying on May 2, 2026, so ignore older advice that mentions it.

• Compare the real price. Basic fares can exclude checked bags, carry-ons and seat selection, and Southwest ended its long-standing free bags policy in 2025.
• Bring accepted ID. Foreign visitors can use their passport. US residents need a REAL ID or another accepted document; since February 2026, adults without one can pay a $45 TSA ConfirmID fee to try to verify their identity at the airport.
• Watch time zones. The lower 48 states span four. See our time zone tool.

Trains

Amtrak runs most intercity passenger rail. Service is limited compared with Europe or East Asia, and long routes often share tracks with freight, which can cause delays. Three kinds of service are worth knowing:

• Northeast Corridor: Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Washington are linked by frequent trains, including the Acela, whose new NextGen trains entered service in 2025. It is often faster door to door than flying.
• State corridors: shorter routes in California, the Pacific Northwest and around Chicago.
• Long-distance scenic routes: the California Zephyr, Empire Builder and Coast Starlight are journeys for their own sake. Crossing the country by train takes about three days and may involve a change in Chicago.

In Florida, the privately run Brightline links Miami and Orlando. California's high-speed rail project is under construction, but not yet open.

Buses and Rideshare

Intercity buses are usually the cheapest way between cities. Greyhound, owned by the Flix group since 2021, and FlixBus share a network, and Megabus is a separate operator. Book early for the lowest fares, and check the stop location, since many are at the curb or outside the center.

Uber and Lyft work in nearly all metro areas and at most airports. You need a smartphone and a data connection, and our guide to phones and internet explains how to get one. A foreign payment card usually works. Coverage can be thin in rural areas and national parks, so arrange your ride back in advance. Driverless Waymo taxis operate in a limited number of cities. Traditional taxis survive mainly in big cities and at airports.

Choosing Where to Live

Your commute may matter as much as your rent. Before signing a lease, test the trip at rush hour, and check whether stores are reachable on foot. Sidewalks can be patchy or missing in suburbs, and a walkability score gives a quick first idea. Some tips for your first weeks:

• Rent a car for a week or two while you look for a home, if you are in a car-dependent city.
• Pick a place near a station if you want to avoid buying a car in a transit city.
• Buy an electronic toll pass if you will drive regularly in a toll-heavy region.
• Install Uber and Lyft before you land, so that you can get out of the airport easily.

Related articles:

• Driving in the USA
• US National Parks
• Cost of Living in the USA
• Moving to the USA