If you’re attending the Formula One race at Circuit of the Americas, one way to get to the circuit is on the dedicated COTA shuttle buses.
These operate a ‘park and ride’ service from three different locations in the cities surrounding the circuit, but are not without their challenges. This article provides a guide to using the COTA shuttle service.
Contents
COTA shuttle history - a bit of a shut show
The increased popularity of F1 in recent years, mainly thanks to the Netflix show Drive to Survive has led to more and more fans heading to races across the world.
With increased attendance should come improved infrastructure to enhance to fan experience, but that isn’t something COTA are known for.
As the number of fans flocking to Circuit of the Americas for the F1 event has steadily increased over the last few years, so has the level of disorganisation and failing infrastructure.
With the shuttle service this came to a head in 2021. Gridlocked roads, no dedicated bus lanes and a shortage of drivers meant that thousands of fans were left stuck in traffic around the circuit, some on sweltering hot buses with no A/C.
That’s if they got on a shuttle at all. The queues for the shuttles at the end of the Saturday and Sunday were hours long. People reported waiting over 4 hours. Just check out the comments on COTA’s Facebook post here.
For the 2022 race they improved things. More buses – 600 in fact – more drivers and more lanes on Elroy Road, some of which were dedicated bus lanes.
All to try and ease the buses flowing in and out of the circuit. This helped, but at peak times there were still long waits. Overall reports weren’t as bad as the 2021 experience.
COTA shuttle pickup locations
There are three park and ride locations where the COTA shuttle picks up from in or around Austin:
- Downtown Austin @ Waterloo Park
- Southwest Austin @ Barton Creek Square Mall
- Northeast Austin @ Travis Country Expo Centre
There is no longer a direct shuttle from the airport, if you’re flying in you need to make your own way to the circuit.
Waterloo Park - 3 days
- Collection: Buses pick people up directly outside the Waterloo Park entrance in Downtown Austin on Trinity St between E13th and E14th. Google maps pin here for collection location.
- Parking: Numerous public parking garages between Trinity St and San Jacinto Blvd, usually around $20 / day
- Drop-off and pick-up at COTA: Drops off directly outside the circuit gates at the Grand Plaza
- Journey time: 30 minutes no traffic, 1 hour plus on race day
- Cost: Advance purchases – 3 day weekend pass $130/person round trip, or $45/person/day. Same day purchase – $55/person/day
Barton Creek Square Mall - Saturday & Sunday only
- Collection: Between Dillard’s and JCPenney at the south end of Barton Creek Square Mall, just off Highway 360
- Parking: Free parking anywhere in the Mall car park. Park near an exit for easier departure at the end of the day.
- Drop-off and pick-up at COTA: Mcangus Road shuttle depot, 15 minute walk from the Grand Plaza circuit entrance
- Journey time: 25 minutes no traffic, 1 hour plus on race day
- Cost: Advance purchases – 2 day weekend pass $85/person round trip, or $45/person/day. Same day purchase – $55/person/day
Travis County Expo Centre - 3 days
- Collection: Expo Centre main entrance
- Parking: Free parking in Expo Centre parking lot, enter the centre via Gate 1 off Decker Lane. Click here for Google Maps pin.
- Drop-off and pick-up at COTA: Mcangus Road shuttle depot, 15 minute walk from the Grand Plaza circuit entrance
- Journey times: 20 minutes no traffic, 1 hour plus on race day
- Cost: Advance purchases – 3 day weekend pass $100/person round trip, or $35/person/day. Same day purchase – $45/person/day
Mcangus road bus depot
The drop off point for the COTA shuttle from Barton Creek Mall and the Travis County Expo centre is the Mcangus Road shuttle bus depot. That’s a 15 minute walk away from the Grand Plaza entrance gates. COTA have said there will be a free tram service between the depot and the entrance, but if past years are anything to go by there’ll be a long wait.
You can walk it, but we warned it’s a narrow two lane road with no street lighting. Hot in the Texas sun and a bit sketchy after dark.
COTA shuttle tickets
The tickets for the COTA Shuttle should be purchased online in advance through the COTA website. More information here.
They have said that there will be some available to purchase at the shuttle pickup location on the day but these aren’t guaranteed.
COTA shuttle times
The first shuttle buses will leave their collection points in the three locations around 1 hour before the circuit gates open each day. In 2022 the gates opened at 8am on the Sunday, so first buses would depart at around 7am.
To allow for traffic and queues getting in to the circuit entrances, get there as early as possible. By 7am there will already be a line up for the shuttle collection, so if you can, get there earlier still to try and grab a spot on one of the first buses.
On the Friday and Saturday the last shuttle to the circuit is 6:30pm. On Sunday it’s 2pm.
The last shuttle out of the circuit is one hour after the concerts stop on Friday and Saturday, and supposedly they’ll keep going all evening Sunday until everyone has left.
other transport options
If the horror stories from years gone by are enough to put you off the other option is to drive your car and park at the circuit. Read our full guide to COTA parking for more information, but to summarise, I’d recommend going for one of the private unofficial parking lots near the circuit. These are cheaper and normally have quicker exit routes to avoid the traffic, compared to the expensive official COTA lots.
Alternatively, if you’re staying Downtown and fancy burning some calories, you could hire an E-bike and ride, avoid all the traffic and deserve your hamburger and fries. There is a bike path most of the way to the circuit.
Or, for the best way to enjoy the weekend and avoid all of the traffic completely, consider one of the COTA camping options. You can stay a 10 minute walk from the track from Thursday to Monday, eat your own food and drink your own drinks all from the comfort of your own trailer or RV.
