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Virginia offers numerous transportation options for commuting or freight transport. Nearly 58,000
miles (93,342 kilometers) of roads innervate the Old Dominion. Major automobile routes include
Interstate highways: I-64, I-66, I-77 (also called the Virginia Turnpike, the state's only toll
road), I-81, I-85, and I-95. Some notable auto routes include the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, a four-lane, 20 mile (32 kilometer) long vehicular
toll crossing of the lower Chesapeake Bay which connects Virginia's eastern shore with the mainland at
Virginia Beach near Norfolk; and the Blue Ridge
Parkway, a scenic by which stretches 469 miles (755 kilometers) between the Shenandoah and Great
Smoky Mountains National Parks.
Air travel in Virginia is well served by several major airports and numerous smaller regional
airports. Dulles International
Airport in Dulles serves over 27 million passengers annually. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington County serves over 17.8
million passengers annually. Norfolk International
Airport in Norfolk is southeastern Virginia's dominant airport, serving the Greater Hampton Roads
area and northeastern North Carolina, and hosting nearly 4 million passengers annually. Richmond International Airport in Richmond serves central Virginia and hosts
approximately 3.3 million passengers annually. Manassas Regional Airport in Manassas serves the Washington, D.C. area and is the
largest general aviation airport in Virginia. Roanoke
Regional Airport in Roanoke is western Virginia's primary commercial airport. The Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport serves the Shenandoah Valley and the communities
of Harrisonburg, Waynesboro, Staunton, and Augusta and Rockingham Counties. Accomack County Airport (MFV) offers an aviation gateway to the Eastern Shore of
Virginia. The Charlottesville-Albemarle
Airport (CHO) serves the city of Charlottesville and surrounding areas.
Virginia's railways contribute greatly to the economy of the state. Class I railroad operators in
Virginia include CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern Railway Corporation. Class II and III railroads include Bay Coast
Railroad, Buckingham Branch Railroad,
the Chesapeake & Albemarle Railroad,
Commonwealth Railway, the Norfolk and Portsmouth Belt Line, the North Carolina and Virginia Railroad, the Shenandoah Valley (short-line) Railroad, Virginia Southern Railroad, and the Winchester and Western Railroad. Passenger rail is also well presented in Virginia.
Amtrak offers routes stopping in Virginia such as
the Auto Train, the Carolinian/Piedmont, the Crescent, the Regional, and the Silver Service/Palmetto routes. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Metrorail is the second largest rail
transit system in the U.S., and connects Washington, D.C. to the Northern Virginia counties of
Arlington, Fairfax, and Loudoun, and the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, and Falls Church. The Virginia Railway Express (VRE) offers commuter rail service from Northern Virginia
suburbs to Alexandria, Crystal City, and downtown Washington, D.C.
Commuters have several public transportation options in the Old Dominion. Among these, Blacksburg Transit serves the Blacksburg area with fixed route buses and accessible
special needs transit. Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Hampton, Chesapeake, Newport News, Portsmouth, and
Suffolk are served by Hampton Roads Transit (HRT);
services include 55 fixed bus routes, express transit to the Naval Station, seasonal trolleys, and
paratransit vehicles. The capital city Richmond and greater metropolitan area is served by GRTC Transit System, which provides 186 buses on 41 fixed bus routes as well as
fleets of special needs transit vehicles. Roanoke offers Valley Metro, with fixed bus routes, special needs transit, and commuter service
between Roanoke and the New River Valley. Virginia's proximity to Washington, D.C. is enhanced by
public transit via the Alexandria DASH bus
service, the Fairfax Connector
bus service, Virginia Railway Express, and Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.
Virginia's water transportation options include ferries. Some ferry operators serving the Old
Dominion include the Jamestown-Scotland Ferry, White's Ferry, the historic Hatton
Ferry, and others.
Virginia's mid-Atlantic, ice-free position equates to an economic reliance upon its ports. Six
Virginia ports are identified by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers National Waterway Network: Cape Charles, Norfolk,
Newport News, Hopewell, Richmond, and Alexandria. The Port of Virginia includes four cargo and one passenger terminal: Norfolk
International Terminals, Portsmouth Marine Terminal, Newport News Marine Terminal, Newport News Cruise
Terminal, and Virginia Inland Port. The Virginia Inland Port represents the largest "intermodal"
facility on the U.S. East Coast, providing freight shipment via the Norfolk Southern railroad to the
Shenandoah Valley, where containers are loaded onto trucks that carry the freight to other destinations.
Intercity bus travel to Virginia is provided by Greyhound
and Trailways Transportation System, Inc..
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