Take the Deep Fried Bus Ride!

If you’ve ever driven to the State Fair, then you know that traffic can become congested the closer you get to the fairgrounds. While there are parking lots available at Carter-Finley Stadium and surrounding privately-owned locations, you’ll likely wait in line to get into a parking lot, and then spend more time searching for a spot to park.

Sounds like a hassle, doesn’t it? Well, we’ve got the solution for you: take the Deep Fried Bus Ride!

Leave your car at one of several park-and-ride lots and take the bus to the fair

Leave your car at one of several park-and-ride lots and take the bus to the fair

By riding the bus, you can leave your car in one the conveniently located park-and-ride lots around the Triangle, take a relaxing ride to the fair and get dropped off right at the gate. Here’s a list of Deep Fried Bus Ride locations:

Capital Area Transit (CAT) buses, daily:

  • North Raleigh: CAT bus park-and-ride shuttle from the ITB Holdings Building at 2912 Wake Forest Road 
  • Cary: CAT bus park-and-ride shuttle from the WakeMed Soccer Park
  • Downtown Raleigh: CAT bus stops along Wilmington, Morgan, Edenton and Hillsborough streets (look for the blue State Fair signs)  

All CAT buses operate daily, and drop off/pick up outside Gate 1. Regular fare is $4 round trip. Click here for more details.

Durham Area Transit Authority (DATA) buses, daily:

All DATA buses operate daily and drop off/pick up outside Gate 10. Regular fare is $2 round trip. Click here for more details.

Triangle Transit buses, weekends only:

  • NEW in Chapel Hill: Triangle Transit park-and-ride lot at University Mall, 201 South Estes Drive.
  • RTP:  Triangle Transit park-and-ride at the Regional Transit Center, 901 Slater Rd near the Sheraton Imperial Hotel

Triangle Transit buses operate on Saturdays and Sundays only and drop off/pick up outside Gate 10. Regular fare is $5 round trip. Click here for more details.

McLaurin Parking Company buses, weekends only:

  • Garner: McLaurin park-and-ride lot at 500 Chapanoake Road, located off of Hwy. 70 East/401 South, South Wilmington Street

Garner buses operate on Saturdays and Sundays only and drop off/pick up outside Gate 12. Regular fare is $4 round trip. Click here for more details.

Give the Deep Fried Bus Ride a try this year, and you’ll see why it’s the easiest way to get to the fair.

About Blue Ribbon

Natalie Alford blogged for the 2009-2011 N.C. State Fairs. This is her bio from 2009: I work at the Fairgrounds year-round, so I'm always in the middle of the fun! During the Fair, I work with the press office team to organize events and exhibits, and log a lot of miles on my pedometer. I'm also the County Agricultural Fairs Coordinator, which means I license, promote and visit North Carolina's agricultural fairs and enjoy thousands of blue ribbon entries every year. I hope to see you at the Fair!

One Comment

  1. We might give the Garner option a try on Sunday morning. What time do the buses start? That will determine if it’s do-able or not. Even still THANK YOU for providing an option from Garner!!

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