Sacramento: Transportation

Sacramento: Transportation

Approaching the City

The Sacramento International Airport, 12 miles northwest of downtown, receives service from 13 major carriers and one commuter airline. Also in Sacramento, the Executive Airport serves private planes.

The primary north-south routes to Sacramento are I-5 (the Pan American Highway) and U.S. 99; the major east-west routes are I-80 and U.S. 50, connecting Sacramento to San Francisco to the southwest, and Lake Tahoe to the northeast.

Passenger train service is available through Amtrak. Boat/bus excursions are offered between Sacramento and San Francisco.

Traveling in the City

Most of Sacramento's downtown streets are one-way, with a synchronized traffic light system. The major thoroughfares are the freeways: Interstate 80 and Business 80, which run from the west to the northeast, and Interstate 5, which runs north and south. Other important roads are the Garden Highway, running east and west, and State Highway 99, coming from the southern part of the city to join Business 80. In downtown Sacramento, the streets running east and west are named by letter; streets running north and south are designated by number.

Sacramento Regional Transit Company (RT) operates more than 250 buses on 80 area bus routes. The RT also owns the electrically powered light rail system, which consists of 76 light rail vehicles traversing 30 miles of light rail, connecting the suburbs with downtown. The bus and rail systems are accessible to the disabled community. In 2002, the systems served 27 million passengers.