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

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.

Public transport

Public transport Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whic ...

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 ...

is mostly served by

buses A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...

on both short and wide range distances. There are five different types, based on the size of the

vehicle A vehicle () is a machine designed for self-propulsion, usually to transport people, cargo, or both. The term "vehicle" typically refers to land vehicles such as human-powered land vehicle, human-powered vehicles (e.g. bicycles, tricycles, velo ...

target group The target audience is the intended audience or readership of a publication, advertisement, or other message catered specifically to the previously intended audience. In marketing and advertising, the target audience is a particular group of cons ...

, frequency of stops and distance.

Urban buses

Urban buses (''Urbanos'') can be found in

Managua Managua () is the capital city, capital and largest city of Nicaragua, and one of the List of largest cities in Central America, largest cities in Central America. Located on the shores of Lake Managua, the city had an estimated population of 1, ...

Estelí Estelí (), officially Villa de San Antonio de Pavia de Estelí is a city and Municipalities of Nicaragua, municipality within the Estelí Department, Estelí department. It is the 8th largest city in Nicaragua due to the high urbanization of its ...

, León,

Chinandega Chinandega () is a city and the departmental seat of Chinandega department in Nicaragua. It is also the administrative centre of the surrounding municipality of the same name. It is Nicaragua's 2nd most important city (economy) and 6th largest ...

Matagalpa Matagalpa () is a city in Nicaragua which is the capital of the department of Matagalpa. The city has a population of 112,697 (2022 estimate), while the population of the department is 606,643. Matagalpa is Nicaragua's seventh largest city, the ...

and

Bluefields Bluefields is the capital of the South Caribbean Autonomous Region in Nicaragua. It was also the capital of the former Kingdom of Mosquitia, and later the Zelaya Department, which was divided into North and South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Reg ...

. In most cases,

passengers A passenger is a person who travels in a vehicle, but does not bear any responsibility for the tasks required for that vehicle to arrive at its destination or otherwise operate the vehicle, and is not a steward. The vehicles may be bicycles, ...

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

to 10 C$ in

. An urban bus in Nicaragua takes the same road multiple times per day, following a more or less strict

schedule A schedule (, ) or a timetable, as a basic time-management tool, consists of a list of times at which possible tasks, events, or actions are intended to take place, or of a sequence of events in the chronological order in which such thing ...

. The organization of the buses in different towns differs heavily as every town is organizing it on their own behalf. In Estelí, every bus driver is assisted by mostly two persons helping them (''Ayudantes''). Bus drivers in Managua have to manage their jobs on their own. Another fact that heavily differs is the vehicles used in the different cities. In Managua mostly urban buses sponsored by

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

are used, in Estelí former school buses from the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, in Bluefields

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese light commercial

van A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. There is some variation in the scope of the word across the different English-speaking countries. The smallest vans, microvans, are used for transporting either goods or ...

s and in León

pickup trucks A pickup truck or pickup is a light or medium duty truck that has an enclosed cabin, and a back end made up of a cargo bed that is enclosed by three low walls with no roof (this cargo bed back end sometimes consists of a tailgate and removabl ...

that got extended with seats and a roof. The quality of

bus stops A bus stop is a place where buses stop for passengers to get on and off the bus. The construction of bus stops tends to reflect the level of usage, where stops at busy locations may have shelters, seating, and possibly electronic passenger inf ...

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. To improve the accessibility of public transport, in 2016 the

OpenStreetMap OpenStreetMap (abbreviated OSM) is a free, Open Database License, open geographic database, map database updated and maintained by a community of volunteers via open collaboration. Contributors collect data from surveying, surveys, trace from Ae ...

group in Nicaragu
MapaNica

crowdsourced Crowdsourcing involves a large group of dispersed participants contributing or producing goods or services—including ideas, votes, micro-tasks, and finances—for payment or as volunteers. Contemporary crowdsourcing often involves digit ...

with the help of more than 150 citizens of Managua the first bus

transit map A transit map is a topological map in the form of a schematic diagram used to illustrate the routes and stations within a public transport system—whether this be bus, tram, rapid transit, commuter rail or ferry routes. Metro maps, subway maps, ...

in the whole of

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

. Later in 2018, they made this data machine-accessible, serving it today in different apps on several platforms. Urban buses in Managua will be use Brazilian

dual-mode bus A dual-mode bus is a bus that can run independently on power from two different sources, typically electricity from overhead lines like a trolleybus or from batteries like a hybrid bus, alternated with conventional fossil fuel (generally diesel ...

and

hybrid electric bus A hybrid electric bus is a bus that combines a conventional internal combustion engine propulsion system with an electric propulsion system. These types of buses normally use a diesel–electric powertrain and are also known as hybrid diesel� ...

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.

Ruteados

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

Express buses

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

Share taxis

Share taxis A share taxi, shared taxi, taxibus, or jitney or dollar van in the US, or marshrutka in former Soviet countries, is a mode of transport which falls between a taxicab and a bus. Share taxis are a form of paratransit. They are vehicles for hire and ...

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.

Air transport

Several

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

s are serving both national and international flights.

Airports

As of 2013, 147 airports exist in

's main international

Managua International Airport 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 is located in the ...

Airports - with paved runways

In total, there are 12 airports with paved runways with the following lengths: *''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: *''1,524 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 Maritime transport (or ocean transport) or more generally waterborne transport, is the transport of people (passengers or goods (cargo) via waterways. Freight transport by watercraft has been widely used throughout recorded history, as it pr ...

roads, including the two large lakes

Lake Nicaragua Lake Nicaragua or Cocibolca or Granada (, , or ) is a freshwater lake in Nicaragua. Of tectonic origin and with an area of , it is the largest fresh water lake in Central America, the List of lakes by area, 19th largest lake in the world (by are ...

and

Lake Managua Lake Managua (, ), also known as Lake Xolotlán (), is a freshwater lake in Nicaragua. At 1,042 km², it is approximately long and wide. Similarly to the name of Lake Nicaragua, its other name comes from the Nahuatl language, possibly from ...

. A

Nicaragua Canal Attempts to build a canal across Nicaragua to connect the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean stretch back to the early colonial era. Construction of such a shipping route—using the San Juan River as an access route to Lake Nicaragua—was ...

was planned but canceled on 21 February 2018.

Ports and harbors

Atlantic Ocean (Caribbean)

El Bluff Bluefields Bluff is a port city in the Bay of Moskitia. It handles limited cargo and has basic piers. It is also a base for sea-going fishing vessels. The island that it sits on is now connected to the mainland via a causeway constructed between ...

Puerto Cabezas Puerto Cabezas (; also known as Bragman's Bluff in English language, English, or Bilwi in Miskito language, Miskito) is a municipality and city in Nicaragua. It is the capital of Miskito people, Miskito nation in the North Caribbean Coast Autonom ...

Pacific Ocean

* Corinto *

Puerto Sandino Puerto Sandino is a town on Nicaragua's Pacific Ocean coast, in the León Department. Prior to the Sandinista Revolution it was known as Puerto Somoza. Due to its crude oil supply line, it is a major port, and also plays a large role in Nicaragua ...

San Juan del Sur San Juan del Sur is a municipality and coastal town on the Pacific Ocean, in the Rivas department in southwest Nicaragua. It is located south of Managua. San Juan del Sur is popular among surfers and is a vacation spot for many Nicaraguan fam ...

Other

El Rama Rama is a municipality and a city in the South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region of Nicaragua.
Inifom ...

Rail transport

Since September 2001, all

rail transport Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

has been suspended in

Rapid transit

Managua will have

metro Metro may refer to: Geography * Metro City (Indonesia), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban area with high ...

system that is currently in the feasibility study conducted by

Japan International Cooperation Agency The Japan International Cooperation Agency (), also known as JICA'','' is a governmental agency that delivers the bulk of Official Development Assistance (ODA) for the government of Japan. It is chartered with assisting economic and social gr ...

References

External links

German article "Yesterday and Today: Public Transport in Nicaragua"

{{DEFAULTSORT:Transport In Nicaragua