Getting Around Concord
Concord is a compact, visitor-friendly city, and most of what you'll want to see can be reached on foot or with a short ride on public transport. The city's bus network is the backbone of local transit, and it's designed to be simple enough that even a first-time visitor can use it without much planning.
Public Buses
Concord Area Transit is the public bus system serving the city and its surrounding area, including Penacook. It's a small, straightforward network rather than a sprawling one, which makes it easy to get your bearings quickly.
- Routes: The system runs three routes — Crosstown, Heights, and Penacook — which together cover most of the city.
- Downtown hub: All three routes converge in downtown Concord throughout the day, so you can transfer between them there. This makes downtown the natural place to start, switch, or end a journey.
- Boarding: Buses pick up at designated stops around the city, so look for marked bus stops rather than hailing a bus anywhere.
- Accessibility: All buses are ADA accessible and open to the general public — no registration or advance sign-up is required to ride.
- New to the system? Free Travel Training is available for individuals or groups, which is a helpful option if you'd like someone to walk you through how to use the buses.
Rail, Metro and Trams
Concord does not have a rail, metro, or tram network for getting around the city. For local travel, the bus system and walking are the primary options, with taxis and ride-hailing filling in the gaps.
Taxis and Ride-Hailing
For trips that don't line up with bus routes — or when you're carrying luggage, traveling late, or heading somewhere outside the covered area — taxis and ride-hailing services are a convenient fallback. They're best thought of as a complement to the buses rather than a replacement for them.
Walking
Concord is well suited to exploring on foot, particularly in and around the downtown area, where the bus routes meet. If you're basing yourself centrally, you can expect to cover many of the main sights without needing a vehicle at all, and use the buses for anything farther out.
Getting In from the Airport
If you're arriving by air, plan your onward trip into the city in advance. Taxis and ride-hailing are the most direct way to reach your accommodation, while the bus network is the budget-friendly option once you're in the city. Because the local bus routes all meet downtown, a good approach is to get yourself into the downtown area first and then connect to your final destination from there.
Practical Tips
- Use downtown Concord as your transfer point — all three bus routes meet there throughout the day.
- Board at designated bus stops; you can't flag a bus down just anywhere.
- No registration is needed to ride the buses, and all vehicles are ADA accessible.
- If you're unsure how the system works, ask about the free Travel Training for individuals or groups.
- Keep taxis or ride-hailing in mind as a backup for trips the three routes don't cover well.