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Fairgoers who ride the bus will receive a $10 Subway coupon book good at any Subway restaurant for every bus ticket purchased, as long as supplies last. |
Hillsborough Street Route
This route stops at special blue State Fair bus stops located at regular cat bus stops all along the route. It begins on Wilmington Street at Morgan Street in front of the NC DOT Building, turns left onto Edenton Street, merges onto Hillsborough Street and travels to the Fairgrounds. Returning from the Fairgrounds it travels Hillsborough Street, merges onto Morgan Street and returns Wilmington Street. This route operates 7:00 AM - Midnight
Non-Stop Park & Ride Express Routes
North Raleigh - 2912 Wake Forest Road
Follow the green State Fair signs from I-440 Exit 10 (Wake Forest Road) or the intersection of Wake Forest Road and Six Forks Road to 2912 Wake Forest Road at the IBT Holdings Building. This is one block south of the I-440 Beltline and one block north of Six Forks Road. This route operates from 8:30 AM - Midnight.
Cary - SAS Soccer Park
Follow the green State Fair signs from I-40 Exit 290 (Cary/Highway 54) or Exit 291 (Cary Towne Boulevard) to SAS Soccer Park, 201 Soccer Park Drive off of East Chatham Street near the Raleigh/Cary border. This route operates from 8:30 AM - Midnight.
Fares
The full fare is $3 one way and $4 round trip.
The reduced fare for senior citizens and passengers with disabilities is $1.50 one way and $2 round trip.
Children under 40" tall ride free with a paying passenger. All others pay full fare.
In Durham, the Durham Area Transit Authority will offer service from the Downtown Terminal on Tuesday, Thursday, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Shuttle service will run on the hour from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, as well as Tuesday, Oct. 17, and Thursday, Oct. 19. Sunday shuttles from Durham will begin at 10 a.m. and continue until 5 p.m. (Price information coming soon)
Triangle Transit Authority will offer Express bus service to the North Carolina State Fair from two locations on both Saturdays during the Fair.
The Express Service will run from the Eubanks Road Park-and-Ride Lot in Chapel Hill and the TTA Transfer Center in Research Triangle Park. Express buses will depart on the hour from Eubanks Road Park-and-Ride between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. Buses will depart at 30 minutes past the hour from the TTA Transfer Center in RTP between 9:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. Buses will return from the State Fairgrounds on the hour between noon and midnight.
The TTA express bus ticket price will be $5 round-trip for individuals over the age of 12.
Youth ages 12 and younger ride free.
Seniors (65 or older) and persons with disability pay $2.50 round-trip.
The Eubanks Road Park-and-Ride lot is located on Eubanks Road in northern Chapel Hill, one-half mile west of Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. (NC 86).
The TTA Transfer Center is located at 6 Park Drive, near the intersection of Davis Drive and NC 54.
Fairgoers west of the Triangle can also catch the Amtrack Carolinian to the State Fair. To make reservations, visit www.amtrak.com or call 1-800-USA-RAIL and ask for station code NSF. For more information, visit www.bytrain.org.
Free parking is available on State Fair, Carter-Finley Football Stadium and RBC Center properties. Fairgoers are encouraged to take Wade Avenue to the Edwards Mill Extension to park in these lots. There may be exceptions if events are scheduled at Carter-Finley or the RBC Center.
There will be limited public parking in the Blue Ridge Road lot across from Gate 11. Do not plan on parking in this lot.
Recreational vehicles are not allowed to remain in the parking spaces owned by the State Fair between the hours of midnight and 8 a.m.
During the Fair, neighboring residents frequently convert parts of their property to small parking lots, and charge between $5 and $10 for space. This is not controlled by the State Fair.
The parking lot at the northeast corner of the fairgrounds, between Trinity Road and Blue Ridge Road is paved and designated for Handicap Parking only. Concessionaires and exhibitors park in the lot west of RV Parking past Gate 9 along Trinity Road. Another option for exhibitors is just south of the fairgrounds across from Hillsborough Street and Gate 2. Cars that are parked in the Handicap Lot that do not have appropriate tags or plates will be towed.
In years past, fairgoers have been accustomed to parking alongside Wade Avenue, but both Wade Avenue and Edwards Mill Road are now designated as tow-away zones. Don't try it! The North Carolina Highway Patrol is not going to bend on this new policy, which is implemented for the safety and protection of pedestrians. Youth Center Road is also a tow-away zone.
On especially busy days, the Highway Patrol may shut down exits from Wade to Blue Ridge Road and from the inner beltline to Hillsborough -- starting as early as traffic demands it -- to encourage flow to Edwards Mill Road.
Don't wait until you've reached the fairgrounds to arrange meeting places for friends, even if they plan on following you a car behind. When a parking lot fills up, the attendant will deny entrance to cars, which means your car might get through and the people behind you might not. If your friends are in the car behind you, and you make it into the lot but your friends are waved on to another lot by the attendant, you need to have a plan for meeting on the grounds.
Remember to keep your cool while others about you may be losing their own. Don't let "parking rage" get the better of you.
Parking is free on N.C. State Fairgrounds property, except for recreational vehicles that park between the hours of midnight and 8:00 a.m.
For weary fairgoers who exit the gates only to discover that they are on the opposite side of the fairgrounds from where they parked, a tram service is available. The tram, a 25-passenger bus, will be circling the perimeter of the fairgrounds, making stops at Gates 2, 8 and 10. Another tram will shuttle passengers from Carter Finley Stadium to the fairgrounds on days of heavy attendance.
A separate tram service operates within the fairgrounds for a fee of $2 a ride. This tram stops at Gate 1, at the Folk Festival (near Gate 10), at Dorton Arena, and at Gate 8. Booths for purchasing tickets to ride are located at each of these stops. This interior tram will not be permitted to operate on days that attendance is especially heavy. Neither of the tram services is equipped with wheelchair lifts.