Getting from Palm Springs International Airport to the city

The bus does not come in

• Palm Springs International is a small airport with an unusually good regional bus network around it and no bus service inside it. SunLine's nearest stops are, in the airport's own words, "a short walk from the terminal": El Cielo at Kirk Douglas Way and Tahquitz Canyon Way at Civic Drive.
• If you can manage the walk with luggage, the fares make it worth it: 1.00 dollar a single ride, 3.00 dollars a day pass, 10.00 dollars for a ten-ride and 34.00 dollars for a 30 day pass. Youth 0.85, over 60s and disabled passengers 0.50. Transfers cost 0.25 dollars, or are included with a valid fare.
• One warning: SunLine is redesigning its whole network under a programme called Rides Reimagined, with draft network maps promised from late September 2026. Route numbers quoted anywhere, here included, may change.

The 25 dollar taxi fare you have to ask about

• Taxis may offer a 25 dollar flat fare for eligible trips from PSP, including airport fees. That is the airport's own wording, and the operative words are may and eligible.
• The airport tells you to confirm pricing with your driver before departure. Do that. A flat fare that nobody mentions is a meter fare.
• Taxis pick up in the designated ground transportation area outside baggage claim. Permitted firms include City Cab 760-328-3000, Coachella Valley Taxi 760-992-5337 and Palm Springs Taxi Service 760-409-0796. All operators here are licensed and regulated, and the airport publishes a Taxi Passenger Bill of Rights.

Uber and Lyft pick up somewhere else from where they drop off

• Drop-offs are allowed kerbside in front of the terminal. Pickups are not: they happen in a designated area at the south end of the terminal, in the commercial lane.
• Follow the airport signage rather than the pin the app gives you, which is a common source of a missed ride at small airports with a single kerb.

Parking, which is priced for a short stop

• The first 7 minutes are free, then 3 dollars per 20 minutes and 9 dollars an hour.
• Daily maximum 26 dollars in the main lot, 18 dollars in the overflow lot and 28 dollars for oversized vehicles, all rates including tax.
• The main lot takes cash, card or tap. The overflow lot takes card or tap only. Stays are capped at 30 consecutive days.

A real bus to Joshua Tree, from the terminal, on weekdays

• Basin Transit Route 12, Yucca Valley to Palm Springs, stops at the airport itself. In the operator's published schedule the airport is the first stop outbound and the last stop inbound, so this is a terminal call, not a walk-out.
• It runs Monday to Friday only. Four departures a day: 08:00, 11:00, 15:00 and 18:00 towards Yucca Valley Transit Center, with inbound arrivals at 07:55, 10:55, 14:55 and 17:55.
• Fares to or from Palm Springs: 5 dollars to Morongo Valley, 7 dollars to Joshua Tree or Yucca Valley, 10 dollars to Twentynine Palms. For a national park gateway that is remarkably cheap.
• Miss the 18:00 and there is nothing until the following morning. Plan the flight around the bus, not the other way round.

At the weekend it is a different route and a different price

• Route 12 does not run on Saturday or Sunday. The only Basin Transit service calling at the airport then is Route 15, MCAGCC to Palm Springs, serving the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms.
• Route 15 leaves the airport at 12:19, 14:19, 17:19 and 19:19 at weekends, plus a single Friday evening departure at 19:09.
• Its fares are much higher: 15 dollars to Morongo Valley, 17 to Joshua Tree or Yucca Valley, 20 to Twentynine Palms. The same trip to Joshua Tree that costs 7 dollars on a Tuesday costs 17 on a Saturday.

The north kerb is the regional transport kerb

• Both Basin Transit and the Amtrak Thruway coach use the north end of the terminal. That is where to stand for anything leaving the Coachella Valley.
• Amtrak Thruway from PSP runs to Fullerton, where it connects to Pacific Surfliner trains up and down the California coast. Amtrak lists Palm Springs Airport as a station in its own right, so it can be ticketed as part of a rail journey.
• Turo carshare also operates here. Pickup and drop-off may be in the public parking areas or at the terminal kerb depending on the reservation, and parking fees may apply, so confirm the spot with the host before you land.