DTW to Ann Arbor: Bus, Uber or Taxi, and What Each Costs

The cheapest way from Detroit Metro Airport (DTW) to Ann Arbor is the Michigan Flyer bus: $16 one-way booked online, about 40 minutes to downtown, 14 trips a day. An Uber or Lyft takes about 33 minutes and has averaged around $57. Take the bus if your flight fits its timetable, and a car if you land late, carry a lot or are traveling as a group.

The Michigan Flyer bus: cheapest, if the timetable fits

The Flyer (also sold as AirRide) is the only scheduled bus between the airport and Ann Arbor, and it's run with TheRide, Ann Arbor's transit agency. Online fares, checked in October 2026, are $16 one-way or $27 round trip for adults, and $8 or $13 for children aged 2 to 16 traveling with a parent or grandparent. Buy from the driver and you pay $3 to $6 more per person, by card or cash with no change given.

Where to catch it at the airport. At the McNamara Terminal (Delta and partners) it stops on the Departures Level, outside Door 1 by the Air France and Aeromexico check-in, at a post signed "AirRide Route 787". Not every elevator goes up there, so pick one that reaches Ticketing/Check-In. At the Evans Terminal it leaves from Stall 1 in the Ground Transportation Center, across the skywalk.

Where it drops you. The Ann Arbor stop is the Liberty Square Garage, 500 E. Washington St., on East Washington between State and Division. That's newer than a lot of what's online: many university and conference pages still say Blake Transit Center and quote $15 one-way, which is out of date.

The timetable that took effect on 1 June 2026. From the airport, the first bus leaves Evans at 6:15 a.m. and McNamara at 6:30 a.m., and the last leaves Evans at 10:45 p.m. and McNamara at 11:00 p.m., reaching Ann Arbor at 11:40 p.m. Going back, buses leave Ann Arbor from 3:15 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and take about 40 minutes to McNamara and another 10 to Evans, so book one that gets you there with plenty of time before check-in closes.

The rules that catch people out

The fare includes a generous luggage allowance. You get one checked bag up to 50 lb, one onboard bag up to 25 lb and a personal item; extra bags are $15 each, up to three, on a standby basis. Skis, golf clubs, hockey gear and instruments are exempt from the size limit, and a boxed bike counts as your checked bag. Pets aren't carried, but service animals are.

Tickets are non-refundable, but you can change them. You can move a booking online up to 20 minutes before departure, at most twice, keeping the same direction of travel. If a delayed flight makes you miss your bus from the airport, the Flyer's policy lets you take the next available departure within 24 hours.

Turn up early at the Ann Arbor stop. Michigan Flyer asks riders to be there 30 minutes before departure, and anyone not there 3 minutes before can lose their seat to standby passengers.

Game days and holidays change everything

On Michigan home football Saturdays the bus skips Ann Arbor for much of the day, because downtown roads close. For the noon kickoff on 24 October 2026, Michigan Flyer's alert page lists eleven trips that won't run in or out of Ann Arbor, including five of the six buses from the airport between 9:15 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. (only the 1:00 p.m. from McNamara still runs) Home games on 7 and 21 November were still marked "time TBD" when we checked, so look at the alert page the week you fly.

Thanksgiving is worse. On 26 November 2026 the parade and 5K, plus the holiday schedule, take out every listed bus leaving Ann Arbor for the airport, and leave only three afternoon buses from the airport into town. If you're flying around a game or Thanksgiving, book a car or pick another day; the July Art Fair is the other weekend our Ann Arbor travel guide warns about for crowds and prices.

Uber, Lyft and taxis: faster, and better for groups

A rideshare costs roughly three and a half times the bus for one person, but the gap closes fast with company. Uber's own route page puts DTW to Ann Arbor at 26 miles and 33 minutes, with UberX averaging $57 and UberXL $67 over the past month (checked October 2026). Those are averages, not quotes; prices climb when demand does, and after a home game is exactly when demand does. Two adults on the Flyer pay $32 one-way, so a car starts to look sensible for three people or more, or for anyone who doesn't want to wait for the next bus.

Taxis dispatch from the Ground Transportation Center: Level 4 at McNamara, the upper level at Evans. The airport doesn't publish a fare to Ann Arbor, so ask for an estimate at the kiosk before you get in. For rideshare, follow the pickup instructions in the app rather than waiting at the arrivals curb.

Renting a car is worth it only if you'll use it. Downtown Ann Arbor and campus are walkable, so a car mostly earns its keep for day trips; plan those, and where to stay, with our Ann Arbor travel guide.