Getting Around, Bakersfield Travel and Transport
(Bakersfield, California - CA, USA)
More and more tourists to Bakersfield are opting for a hire car as their preferred mode of transportation, especially when visiting as a family and planning to travel outside of the city's environs as part of an excursion. The city is connected to the rest of California by three busy freeways, the CA-58, the CA-99 and the CA-178.
Public bus transport in Bakersfield is operated by
Golden Empire Transit (GET). In total there are now 16 different bus routes covering the Greater Bakersfield area and the local transit company is working hard to improve both its image and its service.
Amtrak trains travel into Bakersfield and connect this city with much of California and beyond, with the city's railway station being situated on 16th Street, in between the Beale Memorial Library and the St. George Green Orthodox Church, next to the Veterans Memorial.
Meadows Field Airport (BFL) / Arriving by Air
Address: William M. Thomas Terminal, 3701 Wings Way, Bakersfield, California (CA), 93308, USA
Tel: +1 661 391 1800
Located just under 8 miles / 13 km to the northwest of downtown Bakersfield and reached via the Golden State Highway (CA-99), the
Meadows Field Airport serves as the region's main commercial air facility and transport hub. Roughly 150,000 passengers fly in and out of this airport per annum, onboard airlines such as Mesa Airlines, SkyWest Airlines, United Express and US Airways Express.
Public transportation at the Meadows Field Airport is provided by the Golden Empire Transit company, via bus route 3. This route travels between North Bakersfield and the centrally located
Transit Center, stopping at the airport upon request. Taxi transport awaits next to the north entrance, while rental cars (Avis, Budget, Hertz and National Car Rental) can be arranged at their respective counters within the Domestic Terminal (William M. Thomas Terminal).
Car Rental
If you are vacationing in Bakersfield, it is quite likely that you will wish to make the most of its setting in Southern California and relative proximity to
Los Angeles. Since mass public transport in Bakersfield is fairly limited, many travelers opt for a rental car to get around, making use of Highways CA-99 and CA-58, the latter of which is often referred to as either the
Barstow-Bakersfield Highway, the
Kern County Korean War Veterans Memorial Highway or the
Rosa Parks Highway.
Buses
Tel: +1 661 869 2438
Popular travel destinations connected by public bus transport in Bakersfield include the Downtown Transit Center, Bakersfield College, the Kern Delta area (Park and Ride), the Southwest Transit Center and the Walmart Supercenter on Gosford Road.
The city of Bakersfield also features an additional long-distance bus service run by Amtrak, with these reliable buses transporting passengers to and from cities throughout Southern California, as well as traveling to
Las Vegas (
NV), some 280 miles / 451 km to the west (via Highway CA-58 and Interstate I-15).
Trains
Rail transport stops at Bakersfield as part of the San Joaquin line, which travels all the way to
Sacramento. Along the way, from Bakersfield to Sacramento, the
San Joaquin line stops off at stations in Lodi,
Oakland, Emeryville, Richmond, Martinez, Antioch,
Stockton, Modesto, Denair, Merced, Madera,
Fresno, Hanford, Corcoran and Wasco.
Taxis
Several reliable taxi cab companies transport passengers all around the
Greater Bakersfield area and
Kern County. At the Meadows Field Airport, you can choose between American Cabs (tel: + 661 398 9000) and Yellow Cabs (tel: +1 661 325 5041), both of which offer competitive rates and regularly travel to hotels around downtown Bakersfield, along with the neighboring suburbs and towns of Fruitvale, Greenfield, Lamont, Oildale and Rosedale.
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