Getting around Central New York: airports, Amtrak and buses

This guide is for newcomers, students, visitors and anyone in Central New York who needs to get somewhere without guessing: which airport to fly from, which train stops where, how the local buses work and what the highway projects around Syracuse mean for your commute. It also covers the limits of getting around CNY without a car.

Schedules and airline lineups change often, so each section names the official page to check before you travel. Everything here was verified in early October 2026.

Flying in and out

Syracuse Hancock International Airport

Syracuse Hancock International Airport, at 1000 Col. Eileen Collins Blvd., is run by the Syracuse Regional Airport Authority. The airport’s airlines page listed eight carriers in October 2026, a mix of the large network airlines and low-cost leisure carriers. They split between Terminal A and Terminal B, each with its own baggage claim, so check which terminal your airline uses before you arrive.

The airport’s destinations page lists nonstop service to about two dozen cities, grouped here by type of trip.

• Connecting hubs: Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago O’Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Detroit, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Philadelphia and Washington (both Reagan National and Dulles).
• Northeast cities: Boston and New York, with flights to both JFK and LaGuardia.
• Florida: Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Miami, Orlando (both Orlando International and Orlando Sanford), Punta Gorda, Sarasota, St. Petersburg and Tampa.
• Other leisure markets: Charleston, Las Vegas, Myrtle Beach, Nashville and Raleigh-Durham.

Getting to the terminal without a car is possible on weekdays. Centro’s SY84 Mattydale route was extended to the airport in September 2023 and runs weekdays from 5 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., with limited weekend service, according to the airport. The bus stops in the Arrivals A area next to the Terminal A baggage claim. Trailways intercity buses also stop at Terminal A, at the Baggage Claim A2 curb.

Ithaca and Watertown

Two smaller airports can be closer depending on where you live. Ithaca Tompkins International Airport, at 1 Culligan Drive in Ithaca, has daily nonstop service to New York’s JFK and nonstop service to Washington Dulles, according to the airport. The terminal is open from 3:30 a.m. to midnight, and local buses connect the airport to downtown Ithaca (Route 32 on weekdays, Route 72 on weekends).

To the north, Watertown International Airport, at 22529 Airport Drive in Dexter, has two daily nonstop flights to Philadelphia, according to the airport, and parking there is free. The Jefferson County airport pitches itself to travelers headed to and from Fort Drum.

Amtrak: Syracuse, Utica and Rome

Three Amtrak routes cross CNY on the same east-west line, and not every train stops everywhere.

• Empire Service: Multiple daily trains between New York City and Albany, some continuing to Buffalo and Niagara Falls. New York State Department of Transportation funds help support the route.
• Maple Leaf: A daily train between New York City and Toronto that crosses the U.S.-Canadian border.
• Lake Shore Limited: A daily overnight train between Chicago and New York, with a section to Boston, and sleeping-car rooms.

Which trains stop where, according to Amtrak’s station pages:

• Syracuse: The William F. Walsh Regional Transportation Center, 1 Walsh Circle, opened in 1998 and brings Amtrak, intercity buses and Centro under one roof. All three routes stop here. Amtrak counted 161,308 passengers at Syracuse in fiscal 2025.
• Utica: Union Station, 321 Main St., opened in 1914 and is owned by Oneida County. Now also called the Boehlert Transportation Center, the staffed station gets all three routes plus intercity and Centro buses, and had 83,869 Amtrak passengers in fiscal 2025.
• Rome: The city-owned Rome station, 6599 Martin St., is served by Empire Service and Maple Leaf trains only; the Lake Shore Limited does not stop there. Ridership was 12,474 in fiscal 2025.

Local buses: Centro

Centro, the regional transit authority, runs six local bus systems: Syracuse, Utica, Rome, Oswego, Auburn and Cortland. Schedules, maps and service alerts are on Centro’s routes page.

Fares are simple. According to Centro, a one-way local fare is $1 in every service area and a local day pass is $4. Commuter routes between cities cost $3 a ride or $7 for a day pass. Riders can tap a credit card, debit card or phone wallet at the farebox.

Routes and hubs worth knowing:

• Centro Transit Hub, Syracuse: 599 S. Salina St. downtown, the main transfer point for Syracuse buses and the connecting point for Centro’s Auburn and Oswego service.
• Centro Transit Hub, Utica: 15 Elizabeth St. downtown, the main transfer point for buses in Oneida County.
• Commuter routes: AUB38 between Auburn and Syracuse, OSW46 between Oswego and Syracuse, and UT 33 linking Utica, Rome and Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona.
• Regional Transportation Center: Centro’s Syracuse and Oswego buses connect here with Amtrak and the intercity bus lines.
• Colleges: Centro runs routes serving college campuses in Oswego, Cortland, Clinton, Utica and Rome, among others.

Intercity buses

Two long-distance bus brands stop in both Syracuse and Utica. Greyhound and Trailways both use the bus station inside the Regional Transportation Center at 1 Walsh Circle, Suite 30. Trailways also lists curbside stops at Syracuse University (200 Waverly Ave.) and Hancock Airport. In Utica, both stop curbside at Union Station, 321 Main St.

Syracuse to New York City averages about 4 hours and 51 minutes by bus, according to Trailways’ route page, which sells both Trailways and Greyhound trips on that run. At least one other intercity coach line also picks up outside Terminal A at the airport; the airport’s public transportation page lists current operators.

Driving: the Thruway and the I-81 project

Interstate 90, the New York State Thruway, and Interstate 81 cross just north of Syracuse. The Thruway is fully cashless. Cameras capture each plate at the toll points, NY E-ZPass customers pay the lowest rate, and drivers without a tag get a bill in the mail 30 to 45 days later. On January 1, 2027, the base NY E-ZPass rate rises from 4.5 to 4.9 cents a mile, and Tolls by Mail rates are scheduled to reach 8.6 cents a mile, according to the Thruway Authority.

Through Syracuse, the I-81 Viaduct Project is reshaping the highway map. The state Department of Transportation calls it the largest project in its history. The plan removes the 1.4-mile viaduct that carries I-81 through downtown and replaces it with a street-level network called the Community Grid, while through traffic shifts to the current I-481 around the east side of the city. Recent milestones:

• On June 11, 2026, the governor’s office announced that the rebuilt northern interchange in the Town of Cicero and southern interchange in the city were complete.
• On September 22, 2026, the state announced that the Federal Highway Administration had approved renaming I-481 as the new I-81 and turning the existing I-81 between the two interchanges into Business Loop 81. The state said drivers should not expect immediate changes while it plans the switchover.
• The same announcement included a $143.5 million contract for a mile-long underground stormwater line beneath Almond Street, Erie Boulevard and nearby downtown streets.

Lane and ramp closures continue around downtown. The state posts them on the project’s travel advisories page and in its I-81 Connect app.

Living without a car

Centro’s fixed routes cover its six cities and reach some suburbs and villages, including Baldwinsville, Mattydale, North Syracuse, Cicero and Central Square around Syracuse and Homer and McGraw around Cortland. Centro’s six service areas are named for cities in Onondaga, Oneida, Oswego, Cayuga and Cortland counties, so residents of Madison, Herkimer, Otsego and Chenango counties should check with their county about public transit. Even inside the network, some routes run mainly on weekdays; the airport route, for example, has only limited weekend trips.

For trips out of the region, the Regional Transportation Center in Syracuse and Union Station in Utica are the two places where trains, intercity buses and local buses meet. For winter waits, the Regional Transportation Center and Centro’s downtown hubs in Syracuse and Utica all have climate-controlled waiting areas, according to Centro.

Good to know

These items were checked as of October 2, 2026.

• Centro is phasing out its 41411 text-message bus tracking because of nationwide cell carrier restrictions, according to an October 2026 service notice. The GoCentroBus app has a live bus tracker.
• Centro adjusted routes in Syracuse and Utica in September 2026. Check current timetables before relying on an old schedule.
• Thruway toll increases take effect January 1, 2027.
• The I-481 to I-81 renaming was approved in September 2026, and the state said drivers should not expect immediate changes while it plans the switchover.
• Airline routes from Syracuse change. Confirm on the airport’s destinations page before booking.

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