Served by 14 major commercial airlines, Detroit Metropolitan Airport serviced more than 32 million passengers in 2003, making it the 10th busiest terminal in North America and 17th busiest in the world. The major hub for Northwest Airlines, Metro has more than 100 national and 20 international nonstop flights daily. Since the opening of the new $1.2 billion midfield McNamara terminal in 2002, with its 97 gates, elevated tram, and new parking facilities and access roads, the airport is now mentioned among the most efficient and highly-rated in the country. In 2004 the airport authority announced plans to replace the old Smith and Davey terminals with a new 29-gate terminal set for complete in 2006. Approximately 18,000 people are employed at the facility, which also moves more than 500 million pounds of freight each year. Destinations for charter and private air traffic are Willow Run Airport and Oakland-Pontiac Airport. Amtrak provides passenger rail transportation to Detroit from Chicago. Detroiters have easy access from Windsor via train to Toronto and virtually all of Canada through that country's excellent Via Rail system.
Detroit was built around the automobile; there is no commuter rail system. Hence, the freeways are many and excellent, as they must be in order to get commuters around the sprawling city. Six interstate highways and several limited-access expressways serve the Greater Detroit area. Interstate-75, with its northern terminus in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, extends through the city from north to southwest; north of downtown it is called the Chrysler Freeway, and southwest of downtown it is the Fisher Freeway. I-75 extends all the way to southern Florida. Interstate-375 connects the Fisher and Chrysler Freeways. East-west I-94, known as the Ford Freeway, is the primary connection from Detroit Metropolitan Airport and heads across southern lower Michigan to Chicago and Minneapolis. West-northwest I-96, the Jeffries Freeway, approaches Detroit from Muskegon, Grand Rapids, and Lansing. Interstate-696, the Walter Reuther Freeway, is the main east-west route across the northern suburbs in Macomb and Oakland counties. Interstate-275 is a north-south bypass on the city's west side, linking I-75 and I-96. Other major routes leading into Detroit are north to west U.S. 10 (Lodge Freeway) and north-south S.R. 39 (Southfield Freeway). Canadian Highway 401 enters Detroit from Windsor via the Detroit/Windsor International Tunnel and the Ambassador Bridge.
Most Detroit streets conform to a grid system. East-west streets are labeled "mile road" in ascending order northward. The northern boundary of the city is Eight Mile Road. Superimposed on the downtown grid are hubs and squares, the focal point being Kennedy Square and Cadillac Square in the center of the business district. Radiating from this hub are east-west Michigan Avenue, northeast Monroe Street, and east-west Fort Street. The largest hub is Grand Circus Park, which is bisected by Woodward Avenue, a main north-south thoroughfare. Jefferson Avenue follows the curve of the Detroit River and Lake St. Clair past Belle Isle through the Grosse Pointes into Harrison Township and downriver past Wyandotte to Grosse Ile.
Detroit is served by two public transportation systems: the Detroit Department of Transportation (D-DOT) and the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transport (SMART). The People Mover, a 2.9-mile elevated rail circuit, provides travel to major downtown sites from 13 stations.