Transportation Options in Bellaire
For any resident of the Houston area being able to travel across this city is incredibly important. Bellaire is a smaller city located entirely within the much larger city of Houston. As a result, what it means to be able to effectively travel around Houston is essentially the same for a resident of Bellaire.
Loop 610 (or “The Loop” as it is known to Houstonians) is the most well-defined transportation landmark in Bellaire. Bellaire as a city of split into halves with Loop 610 acting as the major dividing line. Getting into your car and heading north on Loop 610 will put you in the middle of Uptown, the Galleria and Meyerland in no time. Conversely, heading south on Loop 610 will get you closer to NRG Stadium/Park as well as other points on the south and east side of Houston. Travel on the Loop is free but at peak hours can be congested.
Meanwhile, an alternative to travel by car is to travel by bus. METRO, the Metropolitan Transit Authority, is the public transportation option in Houston. There is a METRO transit center located on Bellaire Blvd in between Loop 610 and Chimney Rock Road. A transit center is a sheltered waiting area where multiple bus routes converge into one. These hubs allow bus riders from various locations to assemble at a central point to take advantage of express trips or other route to route transfers.
If you need to travel around Houston beyond the inner core of the city, then you should familiarize yourself with Beltway 8/The Sam Houston Tollway. This toll road goes by different names in various parts of the city but is the same toll-road. The Beltway 8 section is mainly located on the east and northeast sides of the city. Whereas the toll road is known as the Sam Houston Tollway on the southern and western portions. As you may have imagined, the tollway is a toll-road that requires you to obtain an EZ-Pass or TX-Tag to travel. Any toll road pass valid in other Texas cities will work on Houston’s tollway. So if you need to get to Bush Intercontinental airport or access one of Houston’s many suburbs, then the tollway is the most efficient way to get there.
Finally, Houston is home to two airports: the Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) as well as Hobby Airport. Hobby serves mostly domestic flights from its location near the University of Houston in southeast Houston. Meanwhile, Bush Airport is located on the northside of town near the Hardy Toll road the Sam Houston tollway. Covered parking, shuttle service and specifics regarding each airport can be found on their respective websites.
