Hartmann Student Travel Grants

Airline Travel

The closest airport to the meeting site is the Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport (airline code ITH) located on Brown Road in Ithaca approximately a 10-minute drive from campus and downtown (see map). This airport is rather small with only three airlines flying into it: US Airways(from PHL, LGA), Northwest/KLM (from DET), and Continental (from EWR).

Other options with more airlines:

• Syracuse Hancock International Airport (SYR) is approximately 60 miles north of Ithaca with an estimated driving time of one and a half hours.
• Greater Rochester International Airport (ROC) is approximately 100 miles northwest of Ithaca with an estimated driving time of just over two hours.
• Use any of the major New York City airports (EWR, LGA, or JFK) and take the Short Line bus direct from New York City to Ithaca.
• The Elmira Corning Regional Airport(ELM) and Greater Binghamton Airport (BGM) are less than an hour's drive from Ithaca, but are much smaller.

• Northwest Airlines
  Discount Code: NMDUB
  phone: 1-800-225-2525

• Continental Airlines
  Discount Code: TBA
  phone: 1-800-468-7022

• American Airlines (Syracuse and Rochester Travel Only)
  Discount Code: A01H8AA
  phone: 1-800-433-1790

Airport Shuttle Bus Service

Most of the hotels in Ithaca have shuttle bus service to/from the Ithaca airport. Please check the listing for your hotel on the Accommodations Page for details. Cornell University's Air Travel page also lists several taxi companies that serve the airports described above. For ITH, we recommend Ithaca Dispatch, roughly $15 each way for a single passenger. Ithaca Dispatch may also be most economical for travel to/from ELM ($85 each way for a single passenger plus $20 per additional passenger), BGM ($115 plus $20 per additional passenger), or ROC (approximately $185 each way). You can also try Executive Limousine & Sedan or Superior Limousine, which charge per vehicle (so you will save signficantly by traveling in groups). Executive Limousine does not serve BGM. For SYR (only), we recommend Ithaca Airline Limousine ($80/person one-way or $110 round trip).

Getting Around in Ithaca

In addition, most of the major hotels have their own shuttle buses that are available for local travel. See the Accommodations Page for details.

We will also be selling discounted 5-day bus passes for travel on Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit (TCAT), our excellent local bus system. We will post reccomended bus routes to the meeting site from each hotel on the Accommodations Page. Two major bus stops are right outside the west entrance to Statler Hall (the meeting site): Northbound buses stop at Statler Hall, southbound buses at Sage Hall across the street. A few buses go only to Uris Hall. Notably, Route 30 on the weekends runs only to Carpenter Hall (northbound) and Anabel Taylor Hall (southbound), which are a 0.2-mile walk from Statler Hall. The position of these bus stops is shown on the following map.

For further tips on bus transportation, please contact Matt Tiscareno (matthewt at astro dot cornell dot edu).

Rental Cars

We strongly discourage the use of rental cars at DPS08, in keeping with our Green Conferencing Initiative. Also note that many of the hotels have limited parking and sometimes charge extra. Most of the hotels have shuttle bus service to/from the Ithaca airport and we will be providing general meeting shuttle buses for this purpose as well. Also, Ithaca has an excellent public transportation system, and we will be making bus passes available to meeting attendees at a discounted rate. If you MUST rent a car, however, AAS has arranged special discount rates with:

• 
  Discount Code: J659136
  phone: 1-800-331-1600

Driving to and in Ithaca

Ithaca is divided into topographic regions by several deep valleys, and driving between ostensibly nearby points can be tricky due to steep grades traversed only by minor roads. Often the best driving route is to go into Downtown and then out again. It is generally a good idea to know where in Ithaca you are going, and plan your route beforehand. Ithaca's major regions are as follows:

• The main valley that includes Cayuga Lake and Downtown continues to the southwest along Route 13 South (Elmira Road, including hotels #3, #7, and #13).
• Nearby but on much higher ground is South Hill, served by Route 96B (Danby Road, including hotel #4). Ithaca College is here.
• Cornell is on East Hill, served by Routes 79 and 366 (including hotel #1).
• The airport and a large commercial district are north of Ithaca, near Route 13 North and Triphammer Road (including hotels #2, #5, #6, #10, and #11).
• West of the main valley is West Hill, served by Routes 79, 96, and 89, and including the Hospital and the Museum of the Earth (banquet site).

Many people driving to Ithaca from points south and east will pass through the convergence of I-81, I-86, and I-88 near Binghamton, NY. The best route from Binghamton to Ithaca depends on where in Ithaca you are going; here are some Google Maps that have best routes specified:

• to East Hill and Downtown (I-81 to NY-79 West)
• to Triphammer area (I-81 to NY-79 West to NY-38 North to NY-13 South/West)
• to South Hill (I-86/NY-17 West to NY-96 North to NY-96B North)
• to Elmira Road (I-86/NY-17 West to NY-96 North to NY-13 North).

An alternate route to Ithaca from points south is to leave the Interstate at Harrisburg, PA, and take US-15 North through Corning, NY. This route is shorter by miles and only slightly longer by time, and can be less stressful and more scenic. Here is a map of that route.

Driving within Ithaca: The meeting site is here. The parking garage is here ($10/day, with a yet-undetermined discount for advance purchase). "A Lot" is here (free parking with permit but about a mile to walk). Please be aware that the Downtown area contains several one-way streets, and some routes between Cornell and the Triphammer region contain one-lane bridges. The local etiquette for a one-lane bridge is first-come-first-served by groups - that is, wait for all cars going the opposite direction to pass before you cross.

If you have questions about driving to or in Ithaca, please feel free to contact Matt Tiscareno (matthewt at astro dot cornell dot edu).

Special Needs

We are able and eager to accommodate special accessibility/transportation needs at the meeting, especially if you tell us your needs in advance. Please contact Matt Tiscareno (matthewt@astro.cornell.edu) with any questions or requests concerning accessibility at DPS08. The sooner we hear from you, the better!