Transport in Nicaragua

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Transport in Nicaragua revolves around road, air and water transport modalities.

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Road transport

The road infrastructure is very well spread across the Pacific side, while the Atlantic side has less infrastructure. As of 2009, from a total of 19,137 km 2,033 km are paved and 17,104 km are unpaved. [1]

Public transport

Public transport in Nicaragua is mostly served by buses on both short and wide range distances. There are five different types, based on the size of the vehicle, target group, frequency of stops and distance. [2]

Urban buses

Former school bus at Ferrecalle in Esteli used as urban bus on the line from Hospital to Oscar Gamez. Urban bus at Ferrecalle, Esteli.jpg
Former school bus at Ferrecalle in Estelí used as urban bus on the line from Hospital to Oscar Gamez.
Former school bus at Hospital in Esteli used as urban bus on the line from Hospital to Villa Cuba. Urban bus at Hospital, Esteli.jpg
Former school bus at Hospital in Estelí used as urban bus on the line from Hospital to Villa Cuba.

Urban buses (Urbanos) can be found in Managua, Estelí, León, Chinandega, Matagalpa and Bluefields. In most cases, passengers have to pay for each ride on a bus, with the need to pay again when switching to another. The costs differ from 2.50 C$ in Managua to 10 C$ in Bluefields. [2]

An urban bus in Nicaragua takes the same road multiple times per day, following a more or less strict schedule. The organization of the buses in different towns differs heavily as every town is organizing it on their own behave. In Estelí every bus driver is assisted by mostly two persons helping them (Ayudantes). Bus drivers in Managua have to manage their job on their own. [2]

Another fact that heavily differs are the vehicles used in the different cities. In Managua mostly urban buses sponsored by Russia are used, in Estelí former school buses from the United States, in Bluefields Japanese light commercial vans and in León pickup trucks that got extended with seats and a roof. [2]

Bus stop sign in Esteli Bus stop sign in Esteli.jpg
Bus stop sign in Estelí

The quality of bus stops also heavily differs. In the center of Managua many proper bus stops exist with roofs or at least signs, in other areas there often isn't any indication of a bus stop. Nevertheless, buses serve a network of established stops with common names known by bus assistants. Passengers need to know or ask where and when which bus stops. [2]

To improve the accessibility of public transport, in 2016 the OpenStreetMap group in Nicaragua MapaNica crowdsourced with the help of more than 150 citizens of Managua the first bus transit map in whole Central America. [3] Later in 2018, they made this data machine-accessible, serving it today in different apps on several platforms. [4]

Urban buses in Managua will be use Brazilian dual-mode bus and hybrid electric bus that are currently in evaluation process.

Suburban buses

Suburban buses (Suburbanos) connect larger cities with communities in outer areas. They only stop a few times inside the city, later nearly everywhere where passengers request to get off. Like with urban buses, a team serves a route several times per day and the service is organized by the local government. Prices can vary depending on the distance. [2]

Ruteados

Ruteado at COTRAN Sur, Esteli Ruteado in COTRAN Sur, Esteli, Nicaragua.jpg
Ruteado at COTRAN Sur, Estelí

Connecting two or more cities, Ruteados (also called Servicio Ordinario) are the biggest part of bus services in Nicaragua. [2]

Express buses

Express bus in Nicaragua Express long-distance bus in Nicaragua.jpg
Express bus in Nicaragua

Express buses (Expresos) connect, like Ruteados and share taxis, two or more cities, but with less stops, resulting in a faster travel time. [2]

Share taxis

Share taxi at COTRAN Norte, Esteli Interlocal at COTRAN Norte, Esteli, Nicaragua.jpg
Share taxi at COTRAN Norte, Estelí

Share taxis are called Interlocales in Nicaragua and also connect two or more cities, like Ruteados and express buses, with the main difference that they depart from the bus station once they are filled either mostly or completely with passengers. Like express buses, they nearly don't stop between start and destination. [2]

Air transport

Several airports are serving both national and international flights.

Airports

As of 2013, 147 airports exist in Nicaragua. [1] Nicaragua's main international airport is Managua International Airport.

Airports - with paved runways

In total, there are 12 airports with paved runways with the following lengths: [1]

  • 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3
  • 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2
  • 914 to 1,523 m: 3
  • under 914 m: 4

Airports - with unpaved runways

In total, there are 135 airports with unpaved runways with the following lengths: [1]

  • 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
  • 914 to 1,523 m: 15
  • under 914 m: 119

Water transport

Nicaragua offers 2,220 km of water transport roads, including the two large lakes Lake Nicaragua and Lake Managua. A Nicaragua Canal was planned but canceled on 21 February 2018. [5] [6] [7]

Ports and harbors

Atlantic Ocean (Caribbean)

Pacific Ocean

Other

Rail transport

Since September 2001, all rail transport has been suspended in Nicaragua.

Rapid transit

Managua will have metro system that is currently in the feasibility study conducted by Japan International Cooperation Agency.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Managua</span> Capital and largest city of Nicaragua

Managua is the capital and largest city of Nicaragua, and one of the largest cities in Central America. Located on the shores of Lake Managua, the city had an estimated population of 1,055,247 as of 2020, and a population of 1,401,687 in its metropolitan area. The city also serves as the seat of Managua Department.

Transport in Belize mostly consists of bus transportation on Belize's roads. There are some navigable waterways.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Augusto C. Sandino International Airport</span> Nicaraguan main airport located in Managua

Augusto C. Sandino International Airport or ACS is the main joint civil-military public international airport in Managua, Nicaragua. It is named after Nicaraguan revolutionary Augusto Nicolás Sandino (1895–1934) and located in the City's 6th ward, known locally as Distrito 6. Originally christened as Las Mercedes Airport in 1968, it was later renamed Augusto C. Sandino International Airport during the Sandinista government in the 1980s and again in 2001 to Managua International Airport by then-president Arnoldo Alemán. Its name was changed once more in February 2007 to its current name by President Daniel Ortega to honor the revolutionary. Managua also has an alternative landing strip at Punta Huete Airport. Punta Huete was designed for larger aircraft. This alternative landing site, however, does not service commercial aircraft. The airport is managed by the state-run Administrative Company of International Airports, more commonly known as the EAAI given its Spanish name, the Empresa Administradora de Aeropuertos Internacionales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Estelí</span> Municipality in Nicaragua

Estelí, officially Villa de San Antonio de Pavia de Estelí is a city and municipality within the Estelí department. It is the 3rd largest city in Nicaragua due to the high urbanization of its municipality, at 83%, with an urban population of 120,014. It is also the 8th largest municipality, and is an active commercial center in the north, known as "the Diamond of the Segovia" and the de facto capital of the north.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bluefields</span> Municipality in South Caribbean Autonomous Region, Nicaragua

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bluefields Airport</span> Airport in Bluefields, Nicaragua

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rail transport in Central America</span>

Rail transport in Central America consists of several isolated railroad lines with freight or passenger service. The most famous one is the Panama Canal Railway, the oldest transcontinental railroad in the world, connecting Panama City with Colón since 1855. Other railroads in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama were built by private and public investors mainly to facilitate the transport of local agricultural produce to export markets and harbors. Their market share and profitability went into decline in the second half of the twentieth century and most lines have been decommissioned by the end of the 1990s. As of 2018, railroads operate locally in Honduras, Costa Rica and Panama only; all rail transport has been suspended in Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua. The railways still operating do not cross national borders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tourism in Nicaragua</span>

Tourism in Nicaragua has grown considerably recently, and it is now the second largest industry in the nation. Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has stated his intention to use tourism to combat poverty throughout the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Index of Nicaragua-related articles</span>

The following is an alphabetical list of topics related to Nicaragua.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Nicaragua - The World Factbook". Central Intelligence Agency. CIA.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Gütschow, Mikolai-Alexander (July 7, 2018). "Gestern und heute: Öffentlicher Verkehr in Nicaragua". Nico Alt. Retrieved July 11, 2018.
  3. Delattre, Felix (February 2, 2016). "The true geographers take the bus". Confidencial. Retrieved July 23, 2018. But two years ago, a group inhabitants of Managua by own initiative decided to take the feat and create the first bus network map in whole Central America. [...] This way more than 150 citizens collaborated in this gigantic task to map all routes and bus stops of the two cities. [...] The map is handed over today at 9am at one of the main and most central bus stops (UCA).
  4. "OpenStreetMap and the Buses in Nicaragua – Presentation in Casa Vínculos, Estelí". MapaNica. March 8, 2018. Retrieved July 23, 2018. Six months later, the two groups started working together to improve the dates and to bring the project to the next level which they presented in this talk: the first mobile application to navigate through the public transport in Managua, Estelí and some national routes.
  5. "Incertidumbres financieras desvanecen sueño de canal en Nicaragua". El Financiero. AFP. February 21, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  6. Gautier, Charles (February 21, 2018). "Le projet de canal du Nicaragua prend l'eau". Le Figaro. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  7. Cropsey, Seth (April 9, 2018). "China Sets Its Sights on South America". The American Interest. Retrieved April 9, 2018. China has abandoned its attempts to construct a Nicaraguan Canal to compete with its Panamanian counterpart.