Newark International Airport, a 15 minute drive from Jersey City, offers comprehensive international and domestic travel service. Buses, trains, helicopters, and limousines all carry commuters between the airport and Jersey City. Intra- and inter- state bus lines, rapid transit, ferries, tunnels, and trains form important parts of the Jersey City transportation network. NY Waterway runs a rush hour commuter ferry route to mid-town Manhattan from Jersey City.
PATH (Port Authority Trans Hudson), the local mass transit service, connects Jersey City with Manhattan, Newark, Harrison, and Hoboken. Construction of the 20.5 mile Hudson-Bergen Light Rail Transit System, which runs from Bayonne to Ridgefield, was completed in 2000 and has won national awards and recognition for creating an excellent and innovative transit system through a public-private partnership. Its clean, electric powered 90-foot modern trolleys are intended to help air quality as well as decongest New York-New Jersey traffic.
Major east-west arteries approaching Jersey City include Interstate-280; U.S. Routes 1 and 1A, with the Pulaski Skyway alternate, and the New Jersey Turnpike, I-78, with four exits in the city. NJ Highway 440 runs north-south through the city while I-95 bypasses it to the west.
As is typical of the New York City hub, traffic is heavy throughout the day in Jersey City. Commuters to Manhattan use the Holland Tunnel, PATH rapid transit system, buses, ferries, and highway bridges. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey operates the main passenger facility for buses and other mass transit, the downtown Journal Square Station. More than 200 buses operate on more than 35 lines within the city. Service began in 2000 on a new two mile rail spur between West Side Avenue in Jersey City and Liberty State Park.