Most of Champaign-Urbana is laid out on a grid, aligned with due north, making navigation not too difficult. The exception is the oldest part of downtown Champaign, which is rotated East from the main grid. This is because Champaign first developed parallel to the railroad.
However, be aware that street addresses can be ambiguous, if not given with the city name. For example, there are four Green Streets: East and West in Champaign, and East and West in Urbana. Therefore, if you drive eastward from Champaign to Urbana along Green, you will start out on West Green, go through East Green, and then you'll be back on West Green again-- but in Urbana. Other examples are the two Washington Streets, which have nothing whatever to do with each other, and the two Elm Streets, one of which goes east-west, and the other, north-south.
By bike
Champaign-Urbana has a significant number of bicyclists who cycle for transportation and recreation. The flat geography of the community makes it easy to get around on bicycle. While there are few on-street bike lanes or marked bicycle routes and the University of Illinois campus bike path system is considered by some to be obsolete and a bit chaotic, traffic on non-arterial streets is usually light and conducive to bicycling.
The Bike Project Coop (http://thebikeproject.org/) in downtown Urbana provides a shop for do-it-yourself bicycle repairs and also recycles and sells bikes at low prices. Two other bicycling organizations are the the Prairie Cycle Club (http://www.prairiecyclecl...) and Champaign County Bikes.org (http://www.champaigncount...).
The only known source of rental bicycles in Champaign-Urbana is the University of Illinois' Division of Campus Recreation (http://www.campusrec.uiuc...) which rents bicycles including tandems to students as well as to the general public starting at $15/day for students and members to $20/day for others.
The Champaign-Urbana Bicycle Map (http://champaigncountybik...), published in 2008, shows recommended routes for bicycle travel in the community. It can be obtained at no cost at many locations in Champaign-Urbana (http://champaigncountybik...).
The Champaign County Regional Planning Commission (http://www.ccrpc.org/) publishes maps of Greenways and Trails (http://www.ccrpc.org/plan...) that includes bicycle paths in Champaign-Urbana and surrounding areas in Champaign County.
Every Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District bus is equipped with a bike rack that will carry two bikes on the front of the bus see instructions for use (http://www.cumtd.com/ridingmtd/howtoride/BikesOnBuses.aspx). Additionally folding bikes may be carried on buses as per the transit district policy.
By car
Most of Champaign-Urbana is easy driving. However, the campus area is complex. Many streets are one way, traffic lights are set to favor pedestrians, parking is limited, and some streets are restricted to buses, so its easy to get sucked into frustrating loops. Hassles can be minimized by avoiding the rectangle inside Green Street, Fourth Street, Florida/Kirby Avenue, and Lincoln Avenue.
In general, there is little congestion to speak of. The exceptions:
Brief rush hours on weekdays
Prospect Avenue in Champaign, north of I-74
Home football games
Parent-student weekends
Move-in-day at the dormitories, in late August
As of the Summer of 2009, there are Zipcars available in Downtown Champaign.
By bus
Champaign-Urbana has an award winning municipal bus system, the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District (http://www.cumtd.com/). The adult fare is $1.00. Students, faculty, and staff of the University of Illinois need only show their university ID card to ride. Routes that serve campus with 10 to 15 minute frequency are the 1 Yellow, 5 Green, 10 Gold, 12 Teal, 13 Silver, and 22 Illini. Most community routes will drive through campus, but with limited frequency. iStops are designated stops for boarding and alighting that do not require passengers to pay a fare or show their ID card. These iStops are positioned along high density corridors found mostly in Campustown. Designated Stops require riders to show ID or pay a fare, but also designate where passengers may board and alight (http://www.cumtd.com/abou...).
The Yellow, Green, Teal, Silver, and Illini run past 3 am during the academic year. SafeRides is a late-night pick-up service provided to and funded by University of Illinois students. Vans are dispatched through the night to safely transport small numbers of students 1-3 within the designated community zone until 6:30 am (http://www.cumtd.com/ridi...).
Routes that serve the community are the 2 Red, 3 Lavender, 4 Blue, 6 Orange, 7 Grey, 8 Bronze, 9A and 9B Brown, 14 Navy, and 27 Air Bus. On evenings and weekends, the decennial series of the routes operate ie 20, 30, 50, 60, 70, 100, 120, 130, 220, 270. Community routes operate on 15 to 30 minute frequency, but vary by time of day. The 27 Air Bus runs every hour due to the length of its trip (http://www.cumtd.com/maps...).
MTD's Hoppers run along the heaviest traveled portion of a route and operate at either 10 or 15-minute frequencies. This gives passengers the freedom to travel without a schedule. Hoppers connect downtown Champaign, downtown Urbana, and the University of Illinois. There are four Hopper routes: GOLDhopper, GREENhopper, ORANGEhopper, and YELLOWhopper. The GREENhopper is the only one of the four that only operates when the University is in session (http://www.cumtd.com/riding).
The 280 tranSPORT operates before, during, and after all home men's football games. This special route transports fans from parking garages and the Campbell Alumni Center to Memorial Stadium. In addition to providing service to Champaign and Urbana, the bus also serves the village of Savoy. The 331 Northeast Direct and 334 West Direct provide transportation to designated areas within the District that are not served by fixed routes. Direct Services bring community members into areas of frequent service (http://www.cumtd.com/maps...).
MTD's bus fleet is composed primarily of 40 foot transit buses. The fleet is supplemented by 16, 60 foot articulated buses that operate primarily on campus. MTD also operates 30 foot buses. All buses are low-floor and equipped with ramps, wheelchair tiedowns, and lift-up seats in the handicapped-priority seating area - ideal for wheelchairs, walkers, canes, and service animals. The front of every bus is also equipped with a bicycle rack that can hold two bikes. see instructions for use (http://www.cumtd.com/ridi...) Additionally folding bikes may be carried on buses as per the District's policy. All buses had GPS locators installed several years ago and have "Stop Annunciators" to meet ADA Americans with Disabilities Act requirements for blind travelers. Transit vans are used for SafeRides, Direct Services, and for ADA Paratransit (http://www.cumtd.com/riding).
CUMTD has used GPS for several years to track buses and has developed a suite of STOPwatch services to provide real time information to passengers. STOPwatch.WEB provides arrival times for every bus stop in the District on cumtd.com. STOPwatch.WIDGET is a downloadable application that tracks buses on your desktop. One of the most passenger-friendly utilization is STOPwatch@theStop, which provides real time "Next Bus Arrives..." signage at certain high-traffic bus stops throughout Champaign, Urbana, and the UI campus. Other STOPwatch services include STOPwatch.MOBI for smartphones and STOPwatch.SMS for texting. Learn how to use these services on MTD's STOPwatch page (http://www.cumtd.com/maps...).
Free printed maps and schedules come in booklet form about 160 pages and include color maps, schedules, and general information. They are easily found on MTD buses, at Illinois Terminal, most UI buildings, dorms and apartments, and at many businesses throughout the cities (http://www.cumtd.com/abou...).