Getting from Gerald R. Ford International Airport to the city

One bus, five days a week

• The Rapid route 27, Airport Industrial, is the only public transport that reaches the terminal. The airport states plainly that it "serves the Gerald R. Ford International Airport Monday through Friday", and The Rapid's own published schedule data confirms it: every service day that calls at the airport stop falls on a weekday. There is no Saturday or Sunday bus.
• First departure 06:12, last 21:45. A small number of Friday timetables run one trip later, to 22:45.
• The stop is the climate-controlled shelter on the boulevard across from door #6. It is not on the terminal kerb, so allow a couple of minutes.

The fare, and the number the airport gets wrong

• Cash is $1.75 and the fare box cannot give change, so bring the exact amount in dollar bills and coins. Cash also buys no transfer: you pay again on the next bus.
• A Wave card is also $1.75 a ride, but with free transfers within 1 hour and 45 minutes, which is the reason to have one for a trip that involves a change downtown.
• Here is the discrepancy worth knowing. The airport's ground transportation page states that with a Wave card "you'll never pay more than $3.50 per day and no more than $47 per month". The Rapid's own fares page publishes an adult Wave single-day maximum of $5.25 and a calendar month maximum of $60.00. The operator sets the fare, so budget on $5.25 and $60.00 and treat the airport's figure as stale.
• Reduced fare is $0.85 cash with proof of age 65 or over or of disability, and children under three feet six inches ride free with a fare-paying adult.

Everything else leaves from a numbered door

• Taxi: exit by door #5 or door #7 and walk to the climate-controlled Parking Shuttle Shelter on the boulevard, where a taxi starter takes your destination and puts you in a cab. Metro Cabs also takes online bookings.
• Uber and Lyft: exit by door #4, across from the Delta ticket counter, to the Rideshare Shelter. That one shelter is the designated point for both pick-up and drop-off.
• Hotel and motel shuttles: exit by door #4 to the shelter across from short-term parking. The transportation information board is in baggage claim by the Visitor Information Desk.
• Greyhound does not come to the airport. Its buses depart from downtown Grand Rapids, so a Greyhound connection means a cab or route 27 first.

Parking and cars, September 2026

• Rental cars moved into a new consolidated facility at 5630 Gateway Dr SE, with counters on the ground, first and second floors. Returns follow a marked route that bypasses terminal traffic.
• Premier Parking's entrance closed on 24 August 2026 for garage renovations. Existing Premier reservations are being honoured in Short-Term Parking, and Premier is scheduled to return at the end of November with a new entrance.