Ann Arbor sits inside a partial ring of freeways. US 23 runs along the east side between Toledo and Flint, I-94 crosses the south side between Detroit and Chicago, and M-14 runs across the north side, sharing pavement with US 23 for a stretch before peeling off east toward Plymouth and Detroit. Inside that ring, Washtenaw Avenue is the main road east to Ypsilanti, Plymouth Road leads out past North Campus, Jackson Avenue and Jackson Road head west toward Dexter, and Stadium Boulevard loops past the stadium and the athletic campus.
The US 23 and I-94 interchange and the M-14 merge are where breakdowns and fender-benders stack up, and football Saturdays turn everything around Michigan Stadium into a slow crawl. Downtown streets are narrow, several run one-way, and the city parking structures around Main Street and State Street are where a downtown car usually gets serviced. Outside the core, subdivisions in Pittsfield and Scio townships have wide streets and roomy driveways. A precise address matters, since apartment complexes and campus lots can look alike from the street.
Detroit Metropolitan Airport is east along I-94, so plenty of Ann Arbor cars sit in airport parking during trips. The city bus network connects downtown, both campuses and Ypsilanti, and the Amtrak station by the Huron River links to Detroit and Chicago. Many university staff and students park once and ride, which is why cars here can go a long time without being started.