By Bus in Austin

By Bus

Greyhound's main Austin terminal, which never closes, is in central north Austin near the intersection of FM 2222 and I-35, a block or so from Highland Mall. There are frequent departures to Houston (the trip takes 3 to 3 1/2 hours) and Dallas (averaging 3¾ hours) and many other cities large and small throughout Texas.

Autobuses Americanos, a Mexico-based carrier affiliated with Greyhound, caters largely to a Spanish-speaking market and runs large, late-model coaches between Austin and several Mexican cities from their North Austin base.

Capital Metro, Austin's municipal bus service (full name: Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority), thoroughly covers the entire Austin metro area, from Leander in the far suburban north to points southwest of the airport. Cap Metro runs frequent service to and from ABIA and four downtown locations. Its Web site is well designed and informative, with comprehensive schedules and maps (the full version of which will probably confuse first-time users with its incredible complexity).

The free 'Dillo (short for armadillo) trolleys run downtown along five routes, from Deep Eddy Pool (just west of MoPac) in the west to Pleasant Valley Road in East Austin, and north-south from the University of Texas to the northern end of South Congress.

Bus & Trolley Information

Autobuses Americanos (1140 Airport Blvd. 512/928-9237. www.autobusesamericanos.us). Capital Metro (2910 E. 5th Street. 512/389-7400. www.capmetro.org). Greyhound Bus Lines (916 E. Koenig La. 512/458-4463. www.greyhound.com). 'Dillo Trolleys (www.capmetro.org/riding/downtown_trollies.asp. 512/389-7400).