If you’re moving to Tallahassee, starting college here or planning an extended visit, you may be wondering: Do I actually need a car?
The short answer?
Probably—but it depends heavily on where you live.
Tallahassee isn’t a huge city, but it’s spread out. Downtown, FSU, FAMU, CollegeTown and parts of Midtown are relatively easy to navigate without a car. Once you start getting into Killearn, SouthWood, northeast Tallahassee and many of the suburban neighborhoods, having your own vehicle becomes considerably more useful.
Here’s what you should know about getting around Tallahassee without—or with—a car.
Tallahassee Is More Spread Out Than It Looks
Look at Tallahassee on a map and everything seems fairly close together.
And technically, it is.
The problem is that Tallahassee didn’t develop around one compact downtown where everybody lives, works, shops and eats.
Our major destinations are scattered around town.
You might live near FSU but work on Capital Circle. Your doctor could be near Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare while your favorite grocery store is several miles in the opposite direction.
That’s where living without a car gets complicated.
Where Can You Live Without a Car?
If you’re determined to go car-free, location matters more than anything else.
CollegeTown, FSU and the areas immediately surrounding campus are probably the easiest. Restaurants, apartments, campus buildings, entertainment and bus service are concentrated in a relatively small area.
Downtown Tallahassee can also work, particularly if you work downtown. You can walk to restaurants, government offices, parks and events, and StarMetro routes converge downtown.
Midtown is somewhat walkable depending on exactly where you live. Restaurants, bars, coffee shops and businesses are concentrated around Thomasville Road, Monroe Street and surrounding streets, but you’ll probably still want another transportation option for errands outside the neighborhood.
FAMU and nearby areas also have better transportation options than many of Tallahassee’s outer neighborhoods.
Where Is a Car Much More Useful?
If you’re living in Killearn, Killearn Lakes, Bradfordville, SouthWood or many of the neighborhoods farther from the city’s center, we’d strongly prefer having a car.
It’s not that you can never get anywhere without one.
It’s that a simple trip can become much more complicated.
That’s especially true if you’re trying to combine work, grocery shopping, appointments and other errands in one day.
StarMetro: Tallahassee’s City Bus System
Tallahassee’s public bus system is StarMetro.
Routes connect downtown with many parts of the city, including areas around Tallahassee State College, Lake Jackson, Killearn, Midtown, SouthWood, Apalachee Parkway, the hospitals, FSU, FAMU and other major destinations.
Regular fares are inexpensive. A standard one-way trip is currently $1.25, while a one-day unlimited pass is $3. A 31-day regular pass is $38.
Reduced fares are available for qualifying riders, and some riders—including eligible veterans and students—may qualify for free transportation.
StarMetro also offers online trip planning and real-time bus information, which makes the system considerably easier to use if you’re unfamiliar with the routes.
View StarMetro Routes & Schedules
FSU Students Have It Easier
If you’re attending Florida State University, you may be able to get by without a car much more easily than the average Tallahassee resident.
FSU’s Seminole Express buses travel around campus and surrounding areas.
FSU students, faculty and staff can also ride regular StarMetro city buses fare-free with a valid FSUCard.
That opens up considerably more of Tallahassee without having to pay for every bus trip.
And here’s something visitors may not realize: Seminole Express campus buses are also available to visitors at no charge.
FAMU Students Can Ride StarMetro Free Too
Florida A&M University students can also ride StarMetro fare-free with a valid student ID.
For college students living near campus, the combination of walking, buses and occasional rideshare trips can make bringing a car much less necessary.
What About TSC?
Tallahassee State College students don’t currently receive the same systemwide free rides as FSU and FAMU students, but discounted semester passes are available.
StarMetro also serves the TSC area, so students living near a convenient route may still be able to avoid driving to campus every day.
Uber and Lyft
Rideshare services are another option in Tallahassee and can fill many of the gaps left by public transportation.
They’re especially useful for nights out, airport trips, football weekends and occasional errands when you don’t have a car.
The problem is cost.
An occasional Uber or Lyft isn’t necessarily a big deal. Using one twice a day to get to and from work can get expensive quickly.
If you’re deciding whether you can afford to live without a car, calculate what you’d realistically spend on rideshares each month rather than assuming you’ll only use them occasionally.
Can You Bike Around Tallahassee?
Yes—but this is where Tallahassee likes to surprise newcomers.
Florida is not completely flat.
At least not here.
Tallahassee has hills.
Some areas have bike lanes, trails and multi-use paths that make cycling practical. The FSU/CollegeTown/downtown area is much easier to navigate by bike than many of the suburban areas.
But you’ll also encounter busy roads where we’d personally be much less enthusiastic about riding.
And then there’s the weather.
Riding a bike sounds fantastic in October.
It sounds considerably less fantastic on an August afternoon when it’s 94 degrees with Florida humidity and a thunderstorm forming three miles away.
Electric Bikes Can Make More Sense
If you really want to live without a car, an e-bike may actually be one of the better Tallahassee options.
It helps considerably with our hills and expands the distance you can realistically travel without arriving everywhere completely exhausted.
You still have to consider safe routes, weather and somewhere secure to store the bike.
Thinking about an e-bike? Shop electric bikes on Amazon.
What About Electric Scooters?
Tallahassee also has a micromobility program that allows e-scooters around portions of the city.
Under Florida law, e-scooters are generally treated similarly to bicycles and can travel on roads, bike lanes and sidewalks where permitted.
The city’s shared scooters are limited to 15 mph, with slower zones around places such as Cascades Park and Lake Ella.
They’re handy for short trips around downtown and the university areas, but we wouldn’t plan on a scooter being your primary transportation for all of Tallahassee.
Walking Around Tallahassee
Tallahassee has some very walkable pockets.
Cascades Park, downtown, CollegeTown, FSU and parts of Midtown are easy places to spend time on foot.
But walking around a neighborhood and using walking as your primary form of transportation are two very different things.
There are plenty of Tallahassee roads where destinations may only be a mile or two apart but aren’t particularly pleasant—or practical—to walk between.
Sidewalk coverage varies, intersections can be large and traffic on major roads can be heavy.
Then add summer heat and afternoon thunderstorms.
A one-mile walk in March and a one-mile walk at 3 p.m. in August are not remotely the same experience.
Getting To and From Tallahassee International Airport
Tallahassee International Airport is southwest of downtown and isn’t somewhere most visitors are going to walk from.
If you’re flying into Tallahassee without a car, plan ahead for ground transportation.
Rental cars and rideshare services are the most practical options for many visitors.
If you’re staying downtown, near campus or in Midtown and don’t plan to explore much beyond those areas, you may be able to use rideshares during the entire trip rather than renting a vehicle.
Visitors: Should You Rent a Car?
This depends entirely on what you’re coming here to do.
Coming for an FSU game and staying near campus? You may not need one.
Coming for a downtown conference? Probably not.
Visiting family in Killearn Lakes and planning to explore Tallahassee? Get the car.
Want to visit Wakulla Springs, St. Marks, Thomasville, the coast or other places around North Florida and South Georgia? Definitely get the car.
One of the best things about living in Tallahassee is how many great places are within an hour or two of town. Unfortunately, most of those trips require your own transportation.
What About Football Game Days?
This is one situation where having a car doesn’t necessarily make life easier.
Traffic and parking around Doak Campbell Stadium can be challenging on FSU home-game days.
If you’re staying close enough to walk, take a shuttle or use a rideshare, leaving the car parked may be the smarter option.
Just expect rideshare prices and wait times to increase when tens of thousands of people leave the stadium at once.
Could You Actually Live in Tallahassee Without a Car?
Yes.
People do it every day.
But we’d choose where we lived very carefully.
If you can live near your job or school, grocery shopping and a good StarMetro route, it’s entirely possible to combine buses, walking, biking and occasional rideshares.
For FSU and FAMU students, it’s even more realistic because of fare-free bus transportation.
If you live farther out or regularly need to travel all over Leon County, a vehicle will make life considerably easier.
Our Local Take
Tallahassee isn’t Atlanta, Orlando or Miami. Traffic generally isn’t the reason you need a car.
Distance and layout are.
We have a lot of little pockets where you can walk everywhere once you get there.
The problem is getting from one pocket to another.
Downtown to CollegeTown? Easy.
Walking around Midtown? Sure.
Trying to run errands in northeast Tallahassee, stop at Costco, meet somebody for lunch on Apalachee Parkway and make a 3 p.m. appointment across town without a car?
That’s a different story.
So do you absolutely need a car to live in Tallahassee?
No.
Would most Tallahassee residents rather have one? Absolutely.
