Transportation in Guatemala includes roads, waterways, airports and a short cross-border rail line from Mexico.
The Ministry of Communications, Infrastructure, and Housing oversees the planning, maintenance and development of infrastructure and transport systems. [1] The General Directorate of Roads is responsible for the planning, design and supervision of construction works and maintenance of the country's roads. [2]
Guatemala has an extensive road network, where 12.72% of the roads connect with Mexico and Central America, 17.27% are National Roads, 43.84% are Departmental and 26.17% are Rural. All the country's roads have Guatemala City as their point of origin. Among the busiest international routes in the country are the Pan-American highway that connects Mexico with Central America and the CA-9 highway that connects Puerto Barrios in the Guatemalan Caribbean with Puerto Quetzal in the Pacific. [3]
The urban transport system began in Guatemala City in the 1990s and since then it has been one of the most used means of transport within metropolitan areas. Bus services such as Transmetro and Transurbano differ from other means of transportation, such as private or departmental public transport as they are regulated by lines with defined stops and are primarily used for short-distance transportation.
The Intercity system connects various cities, departments, and countries. It is mainly used for long-distance travel. In Guatemala, it is common to see Chicken buses, which are recycled and often colorfully painted former US school buses. There are also Pullman buses that offer different destinations within Guatemalan territory.
Guatemalan streets tend to be one-ways to ease congestion and move traffic.
Guatemala has a total of 402 airports and airstrips. Among these, three are international: La Aurora International Airport located in Guatemala City, Mundo Maya International Airport in Santa Elena de la Cruz, and Western International Airport in Quetzaltenango.
The General Directorate of Civil Aeronautics (DGAC) is the state agency responsible for regulating civil aviation throughout the country. Its primary functions include: managing the airports of Guatemala, controlling traffic in the national airspace, and overseeing the operation and acquisition of aircraft throughout the republic.
total:
narrow gauge: 884 km 3 ft (914 mm) gauge (single track)
260 km navigable year round; additional 730 km navigable during high-water season
None (1999 est.)
Ferries serve as a mode of transportation in certain regions, such as Sayaxché and for traveling between the cities of Puerto Barrios and Livingston. They are also used to connect multiple coastal towns in Lake Atitlán.
Transport in Chile is mostly by road. The far south of the country is not directly connected to central Chile by road without travelling through Argentina, and water transport also plays a part there. The railways were historically important in Chile, but now play a relatively small part in the country's transport system. Because of the country's geography and long distances between major cities, aviation is also important.
There are many modes of transport in Costa Rica but the country's infrastructure has suffered from a lack of maintenance and new investment. There is an extensive road system of more than 30,000 kilometers, although much of it is in disrepair; this also applies to ports, railways and water delivery systems. According to a 2016 U.S. government report, investment from China that attempted to improve the infrastructure found the "projects stalled by bureaucratic and legal concerns".
Transport in the Dominican Republic utilizes a system of roads, airports, ports, harbours, and an urban railway.
Transportation in Ecuador is the transport infrastructure networks in Ecuador and those connecting the country with other countries. Transportation in Ecuador include aviation, highways, pipelines, ports and harbors, railways and waterways. Apart from transporting passengers, the country is a relatively small exporter of fruits and vegetables such as banana, papayas and pineapples.
El Salvador has transport links by road, rail, sea and air.
Transport in Eritrea includes highways, airports and seaports, in addition to various forms of public and private vehicular, maritime and aerial transportation.
For Soviet transportation, see Transport in the Soviet Union.
Transport in Greece has undergone significant changes in the past two decades, vastly modernizing the country's infrastructure and transportation. Although ferry transport between islands remains the prominent method of transport between the nation's islands, improvements to the road infrastructure, rail, urban transport, and airports have all led to a vast improvement in transportation. These upgrades have played a key role in supporting Greece's economy, which in the past decade has come to rely heavily on the construction industry.
Transport in Guinea is composed by a variety of systems that people in the country use to get around as well as to and from domestic and international destinations. The railway from Conakry to Kankan ceased operating in the mid-1980s. Most vehicles in Guinea are 20+ years old, and cabs are any four-door vehicle which the owner has designated as being for hire. Domestic air services are intermittent. Conakry International Airport is the largest airport in the country, with flights to other cities in Africa as well as to Europe.
Transport in Hungary relies on several main modes, including transport by road, rail, air and water.
This article provides an overview of the transport infrastructure of Latvia.
Transport in Lithuania relies mainly on road and rail networks.
In 1995, the main means of transportation in Moldova were railways and a highway system. The major railway junctions are Chișinău, Bender, Ungheni, Ocnița, Bălți, and Basarabeasca. Primary external rail links connect the republic's network with Odesa on the Black Sea and with the Romanian cities of Iași and Galați; they also lead northward into Ukraine. Highways link Moldova's main cities and provide the chief means of transportation within the country, but roads are in poor repair. The country's major airport is in Chișinău.
This article describes the transport in Peru.
Transport in Spain is characterised by a network of roads, railways, trams, air routes, and ports. Its geographic location makes it an important link between Europe, Africa, and the Americas. Major forms of transit generally radiate from the capital, Madrid, located in the centre of the country, to link with the capitals of the autonomous communities.
Transport in Syria is possible by rail, road, air or rivers, both public and private. Syria is an Asian country with a well-developed rail network (2,052 km) and a highway system (782 km). Main international airport is the Damascus International Airport in the capital, Damascus.
Vanuatu's undeveloped road system, with fewer than 100 miles of paved roads, consists mostly of dirt tracks suitable only for four-wheel-drive vehicles. Every island has one or two short airstrips where Vanair’s Twin Otter planes land two or three times weekly. In addition, every island has a small port or wharf where small cargo ships and boats regularly dock.
Transport in Venezuela revolves around a system of highways and airports. Venezuela is connected to the world primarily via air and sea. In the south and east the Amazon rainforest region has limited cross-border transport; in the west, there is a mountainous border of over 1,375 miles (2,213 km) shared with Colombia. The Orinoco River is navigable by oceangoing vessels up to 400 km inland, and connects the major industrial city of Ciudad Guayana to the Atlantic Ocean.