Transport in Colombia is regulated by the

Ministry of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government age ...

. Road travel is the main means of transport; 69 percent of cargo is transported by road, as compared with 27 percent by railroad, 3 percent by internal waterways, and 1 percent by air.Colombia country profile

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

Federal Research Division The Federal Research Division (FRD) is the research and analysis unit of the United States Library of Congress. The Federal Research Division provides directed research and analysis on domestic and international subjects to agencies of the Unite ...

(February 2007). ''This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

.''

History

Indigenous peoples influence

The

indigenous peoples in Colombia Indigenous peoples of Colombia, are the ethnic groups who have inhabited Colombia since before the European colonization, in the early 16th century. According to the last census, they comprise 4.4% of the country's population, belonging to 115 d ...

used and some continue to use the waterways as the way of transportation using

raft A raft is any flat structure for support or transportation over water. It is usually of basic design, characterized by the absence of a hull. Rafts are usually kept afloat by using any combination of buoyant materials such as wood, sealed barrel ...

s and canoes.

Spanish influence

With the arrival of the Europeans the Spaniards brought the

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...

s, mules and donkey (which developed into the ''

Paso Fino The Paso Fino is a naturally gaited light horse breed dating back to horses imported to the Caribbean from Spain. Pasos are prized for their smooth, natural, four-beat, lateral ambling gait; they are used in many disciplines, but are especially ...

'') used by them in

ranching A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most often ...

duties later in the

Spanish colonization of the Americas Spain began colonizing the Americas under the Crown of Castile and was spearheaded by the Spanish . The Americas were invaded and incorporated into the Spanish Empire, with the exception of Brazil, British America, and some small regions ...

. Horses contributed greatly to the transport of the Spanish conquerors and colonizers. They also introduced the wheel, and brought wooden carts and carriages to facilitate their transport. The Spaniards also developed the first roads, rudimentary and most of these in the

Caribbean region The Caribbean region of Colombia or Caribbean coast region is in the north of Colombia and is mainly composed of 8 departments located contiguous to the Caribbean.terrain of Colombia communications between regions was difficult and affected the effectiveness of the central government creating isolation in some regions. Maritime navigation developed locally after Spain lifted its restrictions on ports within the

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its prede ...

inducing mercantilism. Spanish also transported African slaves and forcedly migrated many indigenous tribes throughout Colombia.

Post-independence

With the independence and the influences of the European

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

the main way of transport in Colombia became the navigation mainly through the

Magdalena River The Magdalena River ( es, Río Magdalena, ; less commonly ) is the main river of Colombia, flowing northward about through the western half of the country. It takes its name from the biblical figure Mary Magdalene. It is navigable through much of ...

which connected Honda in inland Colombia, with

Barranquilla Barranquilla () is the capital district of Atlántico Department in Colombia. It is located near the Caribbean Sea and is the largest city and third port in the Caribbean Coast region; as of 2018 it had a population of 1,206,319, making it Col ...

by the

Caribbean sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

to the trade with the United States and Europe. This also brought a large wave of immigrants from European and Middle Eastern countries. The industrialization process and transportation in Colombia were affected by the internal civil wars that surged after the independence from Spain and that continued throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.

Standardization

During the late 19th century European and American companies introduced railways to carry to the ports the local production of raw materials intended for exports and also imports from Europe. Steam ships began carrying Colombians, immigrants and goods from Europe and the United States over the

. The Ministry of Transport was created in 1905 during the Presidency of

Rafael Reyes Rafael Reyes Prieto (December 5, 1849 – February 18, 1921) was a Colombian politician and soldier who was the Chief of Staff of the Colombian National Army and President of Colombia (1904–1909).Gobernantes Colombianos, Ignacio Arismendi Posa ...

under the name of '' Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transporte'' or Ministry of Public Works and Transport with the main function of taking care of national assets issues, including mines, oil (fuel), patents and trade marks, railways, roads, bridges, national buildings and land without landowners. In the early 20th century roads and highways maintenance and construction regulations were established. Rivers were cleaned, dragged and channeled and the navigational industry was organized. The Public works districts were created, as well as the

Ferrocarriles Nacionales de Colombia The Colombia railway network has a total length of . There are of connecting Cerrejón coal mines, Tren del Cerrejón, to the maritime port of Puerto Bolivar at Bahia Portete, and of narrow gauge of which are in use. The state-owned railwa ...

(National Railways of Colombia). Among other major projects developed were the aqueduct of

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...

, La Regadera Dam and the Vitelma Water Treatment Plant. The Ministry also created the

National Institute of Transit National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

(from the Spanish ''Instituto Nacional de Tránsito''), (INTRA) under the Transport and tariffs Directorate and was in charge of designing the first National roads plan with the support of many foreign multinational construction companies. Aviation was born in

with the creation of

SCADTA Sociedad Colombo Alemana de Transportes Aéreos german: Deutsch-Kolumbianische Luftverkehrsgesellschaft), or SCADTA, was the world's second airline, and the first airline in Latin America, operating from 1919 until World War II. After the war, SCA ...

in 1919 a joint venture between Colombians and Germans that delivered mail to the main cities of Colombia which later merged with SACO to form

Avianca Avianca S.A. (acronym in Spanish for ''Aerovias del Continente Americano S.A.'', "Airways of the American Continent") is a Colombian airline. It has been the flag carrier of Colombia since December 5, 1919, when it was initially registered under ...

Infrastructure

Railways

Colombia has of rail lines, of which are gauge and of which are gauge. However, only of lines are still in use. Rail transport in Colombia remains underdeveloped. The national railroad system, once the country's main mode of transport for freight, has been neglected in favor of road development and now accounts for only about a quarter of freight transport. Passenger-rail use was suspended in 1992 resumed at the end of the 1990s, and as of 2017 it is considered abandoned (at least for long distances).Champin, J., Cortés, R., Kohon, J., & Rodríguez, M. (2016). Desafíos del transporte ferroviario de carga en Colombia, p. 35 Fewer than 165,000 passenger journeys were made in 1999, as compared with more than 5 million in 1972, and the figure was only 160,130 in 2005. The two still-functioning passenger trains are: one between Puerto Berrío and García Cadena, and another one between Bogotá and Zipaquirá. Short sections of railroad, mainly the Bogotá-Atlantic rim, are used to haul goods, mostly coal, to the Caribbean and Pacific ports. In 2005 a total of 27.5 million metric tons of cargo were transported by rail. Although the nation's rail network links seven of the country's 10 major cities, very little of it has been used regularly because of security concerns, lack of maintenance, and the power of the road transport union. During 2004–6, approximately 2,000 kilometers of the country's rail lines underwent refurbishment. This upgrade involved two main projects: the 1,484-kilometer line linking Bogotá to the Caribbean Coast and the 499-kilometer Pacific coastal network that links the industrial city of

Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,227,642 residents according to the 2018 census. The city spans with of urban area, making Cali the second ...

and the surrounding coffee-growing region to the port of Buenaventura.

Roads

The three main north–south highways are the Caribbean, Eastern, and Central Trunk Highways (troncales). Estimates of the length of Colombia's road system in 2004 ranged from 115,000 kilometers to 145,000 kilometers, of which fewer than 15 percent were paved. However, according to 2005 data reported by the Colombian government, the road network totaled 163,000 kilometers, 68 percent of which were paved and in good condition. The increase may reflect some newly built roads. President Uribe has vowed to pave more than 2,500 kilometers of roads during his administration, and about 5,000 kilometers of new secondary roads were being built in the 2003–6 period. Despite serious terrain obstacles, almost three-quarters of all cross-border dry cargo is now transported by road, 105,251 metric tons in 2005. Highways are managed by the Colombian Ministry of Transport through the National Roads Institute. The security of the highways in Colombia is managed by the Highway Police unit of the

Colombian National Police The National Police of Colombia (Spanish: ''Policía Nacional de Colombia'') is the national police force of the Republic of Colombia. Although the National Police is not part of the Military Forces of Colombia (Army, Navy, and Air Force), it ...

. Colombia is crossed by the

Panamerican Highway The Pan-American Highway (french: (Auto)route panaméricaine/transaméricaine; pt, Rodovia/Auto-estrada Pan-americana; es, Autopista/Carretera/Ruta Panamericana) is a network of roads stretching across the Americas and measuring about in to ...

Ports, waterways, and merchant marine

Seaports handle around 80 percent of international cargo. In 2005 a total of 105,251 metric tons of cargo were transported by water. Colombia's most important ocean terminals are

, Cartagena, and

Santa Marta Santa Marta (), officially Distrito Turístico, Cultural e Histórico de Santa Marta ("Touristic, Cultural and Historic District of Santa Marta"), is a city on the coast of the Caribbean Sea in northern Colombia. It is the capital of Magdalena ...

on the Caribbean Coast and Buenaventura and

Tumaco Tumaco is a port city and municipality in the Nariño Department, Colombia, by the Pacific Ocean. It is located on the southwestern corner of Colombia, near the border with Ecuador, and experiences a hot tropical climate. Tumaco is inhabited mai ...

on the Pacific Coast. Exports mostly pass through the Caribbean ports of Cartagena and Santa Marta, while 65 percent of imports arrive at the port of Buenaventura. Other important ports and harbors are Bahía de Portete, Leticia, Puerto Bolívar, San Andrés, Santa Marta, and

Turbo In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pro ...

. Since privatization was implemented in 1993, the efficiency of port handling has increased greatly. Privatization, however, has had negative impacts as well. In Buenaventura, for example, privatization of the harbor has increased unemployment and social issues. There are plans to construct a deep-water port at Bahía Solano. The main inland waterways total about 18,200 kilometers, 11,000 kilometers of which are navigable by riverboats. A well-developed and important form of transport for both cargo and passengers, inland waterways transport approximately 3.8 million metric tons of freight and more than 5.5 million passengers annually. Main inland waterways are the Magdalena–Cauca River system, which is navigable for 1,500 kilometers; the Atrato, which is navigable for 687 kilometers; the Orinoco system of more than five navigable rivers, which total more than 4,000 kilometers of potential navigation (mainly through Venezuela); and the Amazonas system, which has four main rivers totaling 3,000 navigable kilometers (mainly through Brazil). The government is planning an ambitious program to more fully utilize the main rivers for transport. In addition, the navy's riverine brigade has been patrolling waterways more aggressively in order to establish safer river transport in the more remote areas in the south and east of the country. The merchant marine totals 17 ships (1,000 gross registered tons or more), including four bulk, 13 cargo, one container, one liquefied gas, and three petroleum tanker ships. Colombia also has seven ships registered in other countries (Antigua and Barbuda, two; Panama, five).

Civil Aviation

180px, Vehicles on the El Dorado Airport platform 2018 taxis en el Aeropuerto Olaya Herrera de Medellín

The

Special Administrative Unit of Civil Aeronautics Special or specials may refer to: Policing * Specials, Ulster Special Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force * Specials, Special Constable, an auxiliary, volunteer, or temporary; police worker or police officer Literature * ''Specia ...

is responsible of regulating and controlling the use of air space by civil aviation. The customs/immigration issues are controlled by the

Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad The Administrative Department of Security ( es, Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad, DAS) was the security service agency of Colombia, which was also responsible for border and immigration services. It was dissolved on 31 October 2011 as pa ...

(DAS). Colombia has well-developed air routes and an estimated total of 984 airports, 100 of which have paved runways, plus two heliports. Of the 74 main airports, 20 can accommodate jet aircraft. Two airports are more than 3,047 meters in length, nine are 2,438–3,047 meters, 39 are 1,524–2,437 meters, 38 are 914–1,523 meters, 12 are shorter than 914 meters, and 880 have unpaved runways. The government has been selling its stake in local airports in order to allow their privatization. The country has 40 regional airports, and the cities of Bogotá, Medellín, Cali, Barranquilla, Bucaramanga, Cartagena, Cúcuta, Leticia, Pereira, Armenia, San Andrés, and Santa Marta have international airports. Bogotá's El Dorado International Airport handles 550 million metric tons of cargo and 22 million passengers a year, making it the largest airport in Latin America in terms of cargo and the third largest in passenger numbers.

Urban transport

Urban transport systems have been developed in Bogotá, Medellín, Cali and Barranquilla. Traffic congestion in Bogotá has been greatly exacerbated by the lack of rail transport. However, this problem has been alleviated somewhat by the development of one of the world's largest and highest capacity

bus rapid transit Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...

(BRT) systems, known as the

TransMilenio TransMilenio is a bus rapid transit (BRT) system that serves Bogotá, the capital of Colombia, and Soacha. The system opened to the public in December 2000, covering Avenida Caracas, Caracas Avenue and 80 street. Other lines were added gradually ...

(opened 2000), and the restriction of vehicles through a daily, rotating ban on private cars depending on plate numbers. Bogotá's system consists of bus and minibus services managed by both private- and public-sector enterprises. Since 1995 Medellín has had a modern urban railway referred to as the Metro de Medellín, which also connects with the cities of Itagüí, Envigado, and Bello. An elevated cable car system, Metrocable, was added in 2004 to link some of Medellín's poorer mountainous neighborhoods with the Metro de Medellín. A

BRT BRT may refer to: Transportation * Block register territory, a method for dispatching trains * British Rail Telecommunications * Brookhaven Rail Terminal * Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company, a former transit holding company in New York City * Bro ...

line called Transmetro began operating in 2011, with a second line added in 2013. Other cities have also installed BRT systems such as

with a six line system (opened 2008),

with two lines (opened 2010),

Bucaramanga Bucaramanga () is the capital and largest city of the department of Santander, Colombia. Bucaramanga has the fifth-largest economy by GDP in Colombia, has the lowest unemployment rate and has the ninth-largest population in the country, with 68 ...

with one line (opened 2010), Cartagena with one line (opened 2015) and Pereira with three lines (opened 2006). A light rail line in Barranquilla is planned.

Pipelines

Colombia has 4,350 kilometers of gas pipelines, 6,134 kilometers of oil pipelines, and 3,140 kilometers of refined-products pipelines. The country has five major oil pipelines, four of which connect with the Caribbean export terminal at Puerto Coveñas. Until at least September 2005, the United States funded efforts to help protect a major pipeline, the 769-kilometer-long Caño Limón–Puerto Coveñas pipeline, which carries about 20 percent of Colombia's oil production to Puerto Coveñas from the guerrilla-infested Arauca region in the eastern Andean foothills and Amazonian jungle. The number of attacks against pipelines began declining substantially in 2002. In 2004 there were only 17 attacks against the Caño Limón–Puerto Coveñas pipeline, down from 170 in 2001. However, a bombing in February 2005 shut the pipeline for several weeks, and attacks against the electrical gird system that provides energy to the Caño Limón oilfield have continued. New oil pipeline projects with Brazil and Venezuela are underway. In addition, the already strong cross-border trade links between Colombia and Venezuela were solidified in July 2004 with an agreement to build a US$320 million natural gas pipeline between the two countries, to be completed in 2008.

References

External links

Colombian Ministry of Transport

Invias - Colombian National Institute of Highways

Colombian Maritime and Fluvial Port Authority

Colombian Civil Aerospace Authority
{{DEFAULTSORT:Transport In Colombia