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.^[1] 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".^[2][3]

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 with Nicaragua and Panama, the neighboring countries to the north and to the south Costa Rica's ports 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."^[4]

• total: 278 km (173 mi)
• narrow gauge: 278 km (173 mi) of 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge (260 km (162 mi) electrified)

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: 35,330 km (21,953 mi)
• Paved: 8,621 km (5,357 mi)
• Unpaved: 26,709 km (16,596 mi)

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.

730 km (454 mi), seasonally navigable by small craft

• refined products 242 km (150 mi)

In 2016, the government pledged ₡93 million ($166,000) for a new cruise ship terminal for Puerto Limón.^[5]

• Port of Moín, operated by JAPDEVA.
• Port of Limón, operated by JAPDEVA.
• Moín Container Terminal, operated by APM Terminals.

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

• total: 2 ships (1,000 gross tonnage (GT) or over) 2,308 GT/743 tonnes deadweight (DWT)
• ships by type:
  • passenger/cargo ships 2

Total: 161 (2013)^[update][6]

• total: 47 (2013)^[update][6]
• 2,438 to 3,047 m (7,999 to 9,997 ft): 2
• 1,524 to 2,437 m (5,000 to 7,995 ft): 2
• 914 to 1,523 m (2,999 to 4,997 ft): 27
• under 914 metres (2,999 ft): 16

• total: 114 (2013)^[update][6]
• 914 to 1,523 m (2,999 to 4,997 ft): 18
• under 914 metres (2,999 ft): 96

 This article incorporates public domain material from The World Factbook. CIA.

v t e National Road Network of Costa Rica
National Primary Routes	1 2 3 4 5 6 10 14 17 18 21 22 23 27 32 34 35 36 39
National Secondary Routes	100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 163 164 165 167 168 169 170 171 174 175 176 177 180 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257
National Tertiary Routes	301 303 304 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 411 413 414 415 416 417 502 503 504 505 506 507 510 601 602 603 604 605 606 607 608 609 610 611 612 613 614 615 616 617 618 619 620 621 622 623 624 625 700 702 703 704 705 706 707 708 709 710 711 712 713 714 715 716 717 718 719 720 721 722 723 725 726 727 728 729 730 731 732 733 734 735 737 738 739 741 742 744 745 746 747 748 749 750 751 752 753 755 756 757 760 761 801 802 803 804 805 806 807 809 810 811 812 813 814 816 817 901 902 903 904 905 906 907 909 910 911 912 913 914 915 917 918 920 921 922 923 925 926 927 928 929 930 931 933 934 935 936 937 938 939
National Border Routes	1856

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