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". Most parts of the country are accessible by road. The main highland cities in the country's Central Valley are connected by paved all-weather roads with the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and by the

Pan American Highway The Pan-American Highway is a vast network of roads that stretches about 30,000 kilometers (about 19,000 miles) from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, in the northernmost part of North America to Ushuaia, Argentina, at the southern tip of South America. I ...

with

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

and

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

, the neighboring countries to the north and to the south.

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...

s are struggling to keep pace with growing trade. They have insufficient capacity, and their equipment is in poor condition. The railroad didn't function for several years, until recent government effort to reactivate it for city transportation. An August 2016 OECD report provided this summary: "The road network is extensive but of poor quality, railways are in disrepair and only slowly being reactivated after having been shut down in the 1990s. Seaports’ quality and capacity are deficient. Internal transportation overly relies on private road vehicles as the public transport system, especially railways, is inadequate."

Railways

*''total:'' *''

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

:'' of gauge ( electrified)

Road transportation

The road system in Costa Rica is not as developed as it might be expected for such a country. However, there are some two-lane trunk roads with restricted access under development. *''Total:'' *''Paved:'' *''Unpaved:''

National road network

The Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MOPT), along with the National Road Council (Conavi), are the government organizations in charge of national road nomenclature and maintenance. There are three levels in the national road network: *Primary roads: These are trunk roads devised to connect important cities, most of the national roads are connected to the capital city, San José. There are 19 national primary roads, numbered between 1 and 39. *Secondary roads: These are roads that connect different cities, or primary routes, directly. There are 129 national secondary roads, numbered between 100 and 257. *Tertiary roads: These roads connect main cities to villages or residential areas, there are 175 national tertiary roads, numbered between 301 and 935.

Waterways

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

ally

navigable A body of water, such as a river, canal or lake, is navigable if it is deep, wide and calm enough for a water vessel (e.g. boats) to pass safely. Navigability is also referred to in the broader context of a body of water having sufficient under ...

by small craft

Pipelines

* refined products

Ports and harbors

In 2016, the government pledged ₡93 million ($166,000) for a new cruise ship terminal for Puerto Limón.

Atlantic Ocean

Port of Moín The Port Terminal of Moín, ( Spanish: ''Terminal Portuaria de Moín''), whose official name is Gastón Kogan Kogan Terminal, is located in the Moín bay, west to the city of Limón, is one of the seaports in the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. N ...

, operated by JAPDEVA. * Port of Limón, operated by JAPDEVA. * Moín Container Terminal, operated by

APM Terminals APM Terminals is a Port operator, port operating company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands. A unit of Denmark, Danish Freight transport, shipping company Maersk's Transport and Logistics division. It manages container terminals and provides ...

Pacific Ocean

* Golfito * Puerto Quepos * Puntarenas (cruise ships only) * Caldera Port

Merchant marine

*''total:'' 2

ship A ship is a large watercraft, vessel that travels the world's oceans and other Waterway, navigable waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research and fishing. Ships are generally disti ...

s ( or over) / *''ships by type:'' ** passenger/cargo ships 2

Airports

''Total'': 161

Airports - with paved runways

* ''total'': 47 * : 2 * : 2 * : 27 * under : 16

Airports - with unpaved runways

*''total:'' 114 *'':'' 18 *''under'' '':'' 96

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Transport In Costa Rica