Fort Lauderdale, Florida is part of rapidly-expanding South Florida and is served by its own airport (Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International) as well as Miami’s airport. The Fort Lauderdale airport began as Merle Fogg Field, built on an abandoned gold course in 1929, and was a Naval Air Station during the Second World War. The airport is 3 miles (5 km) south of downtown Fort Lauderdale, 21 miles (33.7 km) north of Miami and adjacent to cruise ship terminals at Port Everglades.
The airport is located on South Federal Highway (US 1) near the intersection of Interstate routes 95 and 595; the airport has its own exit on these, and travel time is minutes from Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood and adjacent areas but can be considerably longer from Miami due to traffic. Metered taxi fares range from $60 to $120 in Palm Beach County; in Broward County (Fort Lauderdale) fares can be as little as $16, in Dania just outside the airport, or up to $70 plus tip in more distant locations; Miami-area fares range from about $45 to Aventura and Bal Harbour in north Dade County to around $170 to Homestead in far south Dade County. Ride-sharing in taxis or using airport shuttles reduces taxi fares to about a quarter of these amounts. Private car and limousine fares are about the same as taxis. You can also book for Fort Lauderdale airport taxi easily online for roaming the city.
Broward County Transit bus route 1 connects the airport to the central bus terminal in downtown Fort Lauderdale, and also runs to Aventura in Dade County, where multiple bus and rail connections are available. Travel time is 24 minutes to the central terminal and about an hour to Aventura Mall, and the fare is $1.75, $0.85 for seniors and disabled passengers. Bus service operates between approximately 5 a.m. and midnight. A shuttle bus connects the terminal with the airport station of Tri-Rail, the commuter rail service connecting Miami, Fort Lauderdale and the Palm Beach area. The fare is $3.75 to downtown Fort Lauderdale or to Miami, where passengers change to the rail system for Miami and Dade County, Metrorail.