Birmingham: Transportation

Approaching the City

Eight commercial airlines operating at Birmingham International Airport offer 154 daily flights to and from 25 nonstop destinations and 35 direct flight destinations. The airport is only ten minutes from downtown. It recently completed a $43 million runway expansion, and added 400,000 square feet to its air cargo facility space. Four interstate highways bring motorists into Birmingham: Interstates 20 or 59 from the northeast or southwest; Interstate 65 from north or south; and Interstate 459, which loops to the southeast of the city. U.S. Highway 280 enters from the southeast, U.S. 31 from the north, U.S. 78 from the northwest, and U.S. 11 from the southwest and northeast. Amtrak offers daily passenger service to Birmingham from Mobile, New Orleans, and New York. Greyhound serves Birmingham out of a downtown terminal.

Traveling in the City

A hilly city, Birmingham lies in a valley running from northeast to southwest. The roads are laid out in a grid pattern; those that run roughly east to west are designated as numbered avenues, while those that run north to south are designated as numbered streets. The Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority provides public transportation within the city of Birmingham. Nicknamed MAX—for Metro Area Express—the bus system provides regular city bus service and, in the downtown area, trolley-like vehicles called DART that carry passengers from location to location throughout the central business district.