Getting from Charlotte Douglas International Airport to the city

Two buses, two different jobs

• The CATS Sprinter goes to Uptown. It runs between Charlotte Douglas and the Charlotte Transportation Center, which is the interchange for the Blue Line light rail, the Gold Line streetcar and most city bus routes. If your hotel is in the centre, this is the one.
• Route 60 goes to the light rail. It links the airport with Tyvola Station on the Blue Line, which is useful if you are heading south towards Pineville rather than into the city.
• Both run every 30 minutes. Route 60 does so seven days a week; the Sprinter's weekday timetable is the 30 minute one.

What it costs, and the odd bit

• The Sprinter is $2.50 per ride. Every other CATS local bus and the light rail are $2.20, so the airport route sits 30 cents above the standard fare.
• A day pass is $6.60 and a weekly $30.80, which is worth it from three rides a day.
• Concession fare is $1.10 for seniors 62 and over, Medicare card holders, ADA-disabled riders and K-12 students, and CATS caps fares so that repeated single rides roll into a pass.
• CATS makes the pitch plainly: no parking, no surge pricing.

Late arrivals

• Charlotte is better than most American cities for a late landing. The Sprinter runs to 1:22am on Saturday nights and 1:14am on Sunday nights.
• Route 60's last departure from the airport is 12:10am on Saturdays, 11:45pm on weekdays.
• Outside those hours it is a taxi or a rideshare, and the airport is about seven miles from Uptown.

On the bus

• All Sprinter buses are hybrid electric, and the stops have open-air shelters.
• Transfers work normally. At the Transportation Center you can walk straight onto the Blue Line, the Gold Line or another bus.