Kansas City International Airport, 17 miles northwest of downtown, is served by 15 commercial carriers with daily direct and connecting flights from all major United States cities and from points abroad. In 2005 Kansas City International is currently undergoing a 10-year, $1.2 billion improvement program.
Primary highway routes into Kansas City are north-south I-35 and I-29, which join U.S. 71 leading into the city. The I-435 bypass links with east-west I-70 from the south.
At 2200 Main Street, Amtrak provides passenger rail service to two stops in the metropolitan area. Greyhound and Jefferson bus lines, headquartered at 1101 Troost Avenue, serve destinations around the country.
Kansas City's streets are laid out in a basic grid pattern except in areas contiguous with the Kansas and Missouri rivers, where one-way streets predominate. The principal downtown thoroughfare is Main Street, which runs north to south. Beginning at the Missouri River, east-west streets are numbered in ascending order southward through the city. State Line Road separates Kansas City, Missouri, from Kansas City, Kansas; the two cities are connected via I-70.
The Kansas City Area Transportation Authority operates the Metro, a public bus system that serves most metropolitan area cities. The new MAX, Metro Area Express, connects the River Market, downtown Kansas City, Crown Center, and Country Club Plaza, carrying travelers along exclusive lanes through coordinated traffic signals.