General information:
South Dakota Mines is in Rapid City, South Dakota. Its airport is Rapid City Regional Airport (IATA airport code: RAP), serviced amongst others by United, Delta, and American airlines and their respective international partners via international travel hubs Dallas, Denver, Minneapolis, Salt Lake City, and Chicago.
The airport is a 15-minute drive from campus. Many area hotels, including those with room blocks for the conference, have free shuttles to/from the airport or use commercial providers such as "Rapid Shuttle" as an airport shuttle. Some services may be suspended due to Covid-19. We plan to run SD Mines vans between the airport an we will also run buses between the hotels with room blocks and campus each morning and evening (see below). Taxis, Lyft, and to a lesser extent Uber (US ride-share apps) are available in Rapid City. Participants should be able to avoid renting cars, if they would like to, but common international rental companies are available at the airport (see link below).
More information about travel can be found at links listed below:
https://www.sdsmt.edu/about/why-mines/the-rushmore-region/
https://www.visitrapidcity.com
https://rapairport.com/transportation/
Local Travel Information:
If you are staying at the Holiday Inn Express or South Dakota Mines dorms and would like a van ride to/from the airport, fill out this form (limited availability depending on arrival time; more information will be made available later). Schedule will be finalized and announced on Friday June 10.
We will run buses between the Holiday Inn Express/Best Western Ramkota and campus each morning, with return buses in the late afternoons. Departure times will be announced later.
International travel and visa information:
Visitors to the US for less than 90 days (from certain countries) may not need a visa (or specifically a business visa B1) to “attend a scientific, educational, professional, or business convention or conference” (without compensation), but instead apply for a visa-waiver via ESTA (see links below). Please refer to official US Government sites only (*.gov) for information on visa and other travel requirements (e.g. Covid-19 regulations). Rules differ widely for respective countries, citizenship and resident status and thus can not be listed here.
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/business.html
Note: During application process, you likely will need a "US point of contact" which refers to the address of your first travel location within the US. If the address is not yet known at the time, you can enter the name of the hotel or location you will visit, e.g. South Dakota School of Mines, Rapid City. For more information, refer to the FAQ at the US government application site or contact your local US Embassy for up-to-date country-specific information.
