The transport network in Greater Tokyo includes public and private rail and highway networks; airports for international, domestic, and general aviation; buses; motorcycle delivery services, walking, bicycling, and commercial shipping.

Commuter rail ridership is very dense, at 6 million people per line mile annually, with the highest among automotive urban areas.

Since the Tokyo region is densely populated and relies mainly on rail travel, air traffic infrastructure is comparatively underdeveloped.

Ibaraki Airport, located 85 km north of Tokyo, acts as a hub for low-cost carriers, with flights to Sapporo being the most popular.

Each of the region's rail companies tends to display only its own maps, with key transfer points highlighted, ignoring the rest of the metro area's network.

Frequent and high-capacity suburban trains from the suburbs commonly continue directly into the subway network to serve central Tokyo, often emerging on the other side of the city to serve another company's surface suburban lines, behaving like an S-bahn network.

Upgrades on Greater Tokyo's railways are chiefly focused on improving services and grade-separating lines.

The end user may need to pass through multiple company gates to get to their destination, racking up extra costs in the process (generally the longer the trip, the less charge per kilometer).

For tourists, transferring between multiple operators and paying several times to get to a single destination within the metro area can be quite confusing and expensive.

Some private railroads also capitalize on real estate holdings and high foot traffic by operating their own retail stores at stations.

For example, Odakyu Electric Railway and Keio Corporation both have department stores over their properties at Shinjuku Station.

Among these are the Hachikō, Itsukaichi, Jōban, Jōetsu, Kawagoe, Musashino, Ōme, Negishi, Nambu, Sagami, Takasaki, and Tsurumi lines.

These include several private railway networks that own and operate a total of 55 lines serving Tokyo.

Public buses in Greater Tokyo usually serve a secondary role, feeding bus passengers to and from train stations.

Some train operators offer combined bus/train tickets; special fares apply for children, seniors and the disabled.

Presently under construction (with some segments operating), the Central Capital District Expressway will be a major circumferential through the area.

This is in contrast to Okinawa (opposite extreme in Japan), where there are almost as many registered vehicles as people, however 55.7% were kei cars in 2014.

Shipping plays a crucial role for inbound and outbound freight, both domestic and international.