Getting from Reno-Tahoe International Airport to the city

The bus does not come to the terminal

• The airport states it plainly: "The closest stop to the airport is RTC Route 12, with a pick-up/drop-off location near Terminal Way and Villanova Drive." That is a walk out of the airport grounds, not a stand at arrivals.
• Route 12 is called Terminal / Neil and links downtown Reno's 4th Street Station with Meadowood Mall, so you can reach either end and change there.
• At the Terminal Way and Villanova stop, RTC's own timetable data gives 04:10 to 01:12 on weekdays towards 4th Street Station, 04:17 to 01:10 on Saturday and 05:11 to 00:14 on Sunday. Towards Meadowood Mall it is 04:45 to 00:44 on weekdays, 05:44 to 00:44 on Saturday and 04:44 to 00:46 on Sunday.
• $2.00 single, $3.00 day pass. Reduced fares need ID at boarding.

The shuttles are the actual airport transport

Reno's hotels run their own free buses and the airport publishes the clock:

• Atlantis: 04:30 to 00:30, every 30 minutes on the quarter hour.
• Grand Sierra Resort: 04:45 to 00:15, leaving the airport at 15 and 45 past the hour.
• Peppermill: 04:15 to 22:45, also at 15 and 45 past.
• The Row (Circus Circus, Eldorado, Silver Legacy): 04:30 to midnight, arriving every 30 minutes.
• Nugget Casino Resort: 06:30 to 23:30, hourly at half past.
• SureStay Plus Hotel Reno Airport: 24 hours, arriving on the hour, bookable on (775) 348-6370.
• Aloft Reno-Tahoe: 04:00 to 23:00, by telephone only on (775) 501-6330.
• The airport warns that a shuttle may not stop directly in front of where you are standing, so walk to it when you see it.

Taxis, rideshare and Tahoe

• Uber and Lyft both serve RNO. Follow the signs across the car park to the rideshare shelter in the ground transportation lot, outside Door D.
• Taxis use the same Door D waiting area. The airport lists Capitol Cab (775) 885-0300, Reno-Sparks Cab (775) 333-3333, Yellow Cab of Reno (775) 355-5555, Reno Ryde (775) 400-3009 and Tahoe Thunder Taxi (530) 807-7136. No fare table is published for any of them, which is unusual for an airport of this size and means the meter or the dispatcher's quote is all you have.
• North Lake Tahoe Express requires booking 24 hours ahead and loads at Door D. South Tahoe Airporter sells from a counter behind National Car Rental near Door B, which is easy to walk past.
• The airport describes itself as within 15 minutes of all major hotels in the area, which is why the shuttle network works at all.

One oddity worth knowing

• Turo cars have dedicated red-marked spaces on the west side of the Long-Term Surface Lot. Take a ticket at the entrance and drive straight through. If those spaces are full the exchange has to be face to face outside the D Doors, because Turo vehicles are contractually barred from parking anywhere else on airport property.