Going to the NC State Fair? What you should know about parking and a bus driver shortage
As you decide how to get to the N.C. State Fair this year, be aware that some of the shuttle bus routes of years past will not be available.
Because of a shortage of drivers, the Triangle’s public bus systems won’t be offering their customary fair shuttles this year. GoDurham, GoRaleigh and GoTriangle all say they need to use the drivers they have to maintain day-to-day operations.
Instead, the State Fair has hired a private contractor to run shuttle buses every 30 minutes between the fairgrounds and Triangle Town Center and the White Oak Crossing shopping center in Garner, starting at noon Thursday, opening day.
After that, the Triangle Town Center buses will run each day of the fair, between 8:30 a.m. and midnight. The Garner buses, which begin near the Regal Cinemas at White Oak, will operate the same hours but won’t run on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. A round-trip shuttle ticket will cost $5, cash only.
There will be no fair shuttles from Cary Towne Center, as there have been in the past. The former mall is now owned by Epic Games and is no longer available as a park-and-ride lot.
Also missing are shuttles from Durham, Chapel Hill and Research Triangle Park. GoTriangle spokesman Scott Thomas said the public bus systems hope to resume that service at future fairs but couldn’t make it work this year.
“Like everybody else, we’re dealing with staffing challenges,” Thomas said.
GoRaleigh came to the same conclusion, according to spokeswoman Andrea Epstein. That means the State Fair bus that usually runs along Hillsborough Street from downtown Raleigh won’t be available.
GoRaleigh carried 41,700 people to and from the State Fair on its shuttles in 2019 along Hillsborough Street and from the park-and-ride lots in Cary, Garner and North Raleigh. This will be the first time in more than 20 years that GoRaleigh has not run shuttles to the fair, Epstein said.
City bus riders would normally have one option: GoRaleigh’s Route 27, which normally stops near the fairgrounds on its run up and down Blue Ridge Road between Crabtree Valley Mall and Western Boulevard.
But because of traffic around the fairgrounds, GoRaleigh says the closest stops on Blue Ridge won’t be served during the fair. And when traffic is really heavy, the bus may follow a detour that takes it even further from the fairgrounds.
If you drive to the fairgrounds
There’s plenty of free parking at the State Fair, PNC Arena and Carter-Finley Stadium lots, but finding an open spot can take time and patience on busy days.
Fairgoers can always avoid the congestion around the fairgrounds by parking in the remote lot at the corner of Reedy Creek and Edwards Mill roads, north of Wade Avenue. The Reedy Creek Dogwood Lot will have bathrooms, a covered waiting area and room for about 5,000 cars.
Free shuttles will run continuously between the lot and a stop on Trinity Road, near fairgrounds Gate 8, from 8 a.m. until one hour after the gates close, except for the first Thursday, when they begin at 11 a.m.
The entrance to the lot is off Reedy Creek Road, at the gravel drive that leads to Carl Alwin Schenck Memorial Forest. The shuttle buses will use a separate entrance and exit directly onto Edwards Mill Road.
The train is still an option
Amtrak will stop twice a day, from Oct. 15 through 24, at a temporary station across from the fairgrounds at the corner of Hillsborough Street and Blue Ridge Road.
Visitors coming from the west can make it a day trip by catching the eastbound Carolinian, train No. 80, that departs Charlotte at 6:45 a.m. The train stops in Kannapolis, Salisbury, High Point, Greensboro, Burlington, Durham and Cary before its scheduled stop at the fairgrounds at 9:53 a.m.
Heading home, fairgoers can catch the westbound Piedmont, train No. 77, which will stop at the fairgrounds station at 3:07 p.m. It will make all the same intermediate stops before its scheduled arrival in Charlotte at 6:10 p.m.
For more information about schedules and tickets, go to www.ncbytrain.org/.
This story was originally published October 13, 2021 at 11:03 AM with the headline "Going to the NC State Fair? What you should know about parking and a bus driver shortage."
