DETROIT – I spend a lot of time flying in and out of Detroit.
I wouldn’t say it’s particularly difficult to get to and from the airport since I live in Downtown Detroit, but it can get expensive if you have to rely on services like Lyft and Uber.
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Since I moved here a few years ago, I have always taken the 261 FAST Bus that goes directly from Downtown to both terminals at DTW. For $2, it’s great if you don’t mind that it takes over an hour each way because of all the stops on the local roads.
There’s also the issue of reliability. The bus schedules are not 100% reliable and I’ve had many occasions where Google Maps will say a bus is delayed but it would actually arrive on time.
Then there’s the luggage. I travel often enough that I generally never need more than a carry-on, but there have been times where I need to bring more that, logistically, is hard to bring on a public bus, especially for an hour-plus-long journey.
I always have to have a backup mode of transportation every time I consider using the bus first. Luckily enough, I was coming back from a trip on DAX’s first day of operation, so I was excited to try out the new service for the first time.
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DAX, Detroit Air Xpress, is $6 if you reserve ahead of time and $8 at the door. I landed at about 8 p.m. and saw that there was a bus leaving McNamara terminal at 8:25 p.m. with an estimated arrive in Detroit at 8:55 p.m. I booked my ticket on my phone the moment I had signal with no problems.
This also gave me enough time to get from my gate to the pickup location which happens to be the same as the FAST bus.
The website had clear information about pickup locations at both McNamara and Evans terminal. That same information can also be found in the PDF ticket that is emailed to you.
You can also track the busses on your phone by downloading the Indian Trails Bus Tracker app and entering “DAX” in Client ID.
The bus arrived at McNamara promptly at 8:20 p.m. The bus driver came out and confirmed my name, which he had on a tablet. He took my luggage into the side compartment, and I walked into the spacious charter bus.
There were no reserved seats but there were only a handful of people riding, so I had plenty to choose from.
The driver waited until 8:25 p.m. and left right on time.
The ride was very peaceful, quiet and quick. If you’ve ever been on a charter bus, it’s the same experience.
The chairs are comfortably soft and plush. I found plenty of standard 3-prong charging ports. There are overhead vents that you can close or open to control the air conditioning, as well as a reading light.
According to the DAX website, there’s also a bathroom and wi-fi, but I didn’t need to use either.
Less than 30 quick minutes later, we were already Downtown at the dedicated drop-off location just across the street from The Westin Book Cadillac, just one block over from where my usual FAST bus drop-off is.
With 16 round trip rides from 3:30 a.m. through 11 p.m. each day, it’s a reliable option to get to and from the airport quickly and affordably. It was great not having to hold onto my luggage and it’s much more comfortable than the bus.
I can see myself taking the DAX as long as it is being offered through their pilot program. I am just glad to have multiple options of public transportation to get to and from the airport.
---> More: New Downtown Detroit bus that goes directly to airport costs less than $10