Columbia is located on Interstate 70, which runs east and west, and U. S. Highway 63, which runs north and south. It is twenty minutes away from U.S. 54 to the east, and the Missouri River to the west. Columbia Regional Airport offers four daily flights to St. Louis. Amtrak rail service is available to nearby Jefferson City, and Greyhound has daily bus service to St. Louis and Kansas City, all with connections to many other places.
Columbia's relatively flat streets are arranged in an easy grid pattern, with numbered streets running north and south. Columbia Area Transit (CAT) provides bus service in the city and the University of Missouri has its own shuttle, as does Columbia Regional Airport. Greyhound provides charter service and regularly scheduled trips out of the city.