Gainesville, Florida - Transportation

Transportation

Gainesville has an extensive road system, which is served by Interstate 75, and several Florida State Routes, including State routes 20, 24, and 26, among others. Gainesville is also served by US 441 and nearby US 301, which gives a direct route to Jacksonville, Ocala, and Orlando.

The city's streets are set up on a grid system with four quadrants (NW, NE, SW and SE). All streets are numbered, except for a few major thoroughfares which are often named for the towns to which they lead (such as Waldo Road (SR 24), Hawthorne Road (SR 20), Williston Road (SR 121), Archer Road (also SR 24) and Newberry Road (SR 26). Streets ending in the suffixes Avenue, Place, Road or Lane (often remembered by use of the acronym "APRiL") run generally east-west, while all other streets run generally north-south.

Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach buses connect with Jacksonville, Florida, to the north and Lakeland, Florida (to/from points south, LKL), to the south. Buses arrive/depart stations to connect with the Amtrak Silver Service. Amtrak train service is available at Palatka, Florida, 32 miles (51 km) to the east.

At one time, Gainesville had railroad lines extending in six directions from the community and was served by several depots, the earliest route constructed reaching the town in 1859. As traffic and business patterns changed, the less heavily used railroads were abandoned beginning in 1943, and some routes realigned, with the last trains running in the middle of Main Street in 1948. By the 1980s, the only freight operator into the city was the Seaboard System, (formerly the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad, now merged into CSX). Passenger service into Gainesville had ended by the time of Amtrak's 1971 creation. In 1984, the last freight trackage was removed as the Seaboard abandoned the branch through Gainesville to Hawthorne due to light customer traffic on the line.

In addition to its extensive road network, Gainesville is also served by Gainesville Regional Transit System, or RTS, which is the fourth largest mass transit system in the state. The area is also served by Gainesville Regional Airport in the northeast part of the city, with daily service to Atlanta, Miami and Charlotte.

According to the 2000 Census, 5.25 percent of Gainesville residents commute to work by bike, among the highest figures in the nation for a major population center.