The local, state, and federal Mexican road system amounted to 235,670 km in 2004, of which 116,751 km were paved. Most roads are engineered for year-round service. In 2000, there were 8,765,358 registered vehicles, including 5,544,552 passenger cars and 3,220,806 commercial vehicles.
The major railroad system is the National Railway of Mexico. In 2006, the total route length was 17,665 km all standard gauge, consisting of six integrated lines. A railway improvement program was carried out during 1975-79, but in the mid-1980s, the network was still in disrepair. The Mexico City subway system, totaling 120 km, suffers from overcrowding. The system's technology, however, is being exported to other developing countries.
Mexico's 2,900 km of inland waterways and lakes are not important for transportation, but ocean and coastal shipping is significant. Of Mexico's 102 ocean ports, the most important are Tampico, and Veracruz, on the Gulf of Mexico; Mazatlan and Manzanillo, on the Pacific coast; and Guayamas, on the Gulf of California. These five ports together handle about 80% of total general cargo tonnage for Mexico. Most Mexican ships are operated by the government-owned Maritime Transport of Mexico. The merchant marine in 2007 had 60 vessels totaling 802,128 GRT. The oil tanker fleet, owned and operated by Mexican Petroleum (Petróleos Mexicanos-PEMEX), the government oil monopoly, included 25 petroleum tankers.
Air transportation in Mexico has developed rapidly. In 2007 there were an estimated 1,834 airports and airfields, 231 with paved runways. Principal airports include General Juan N. Alvarez at Acapulco, Cancun International at Cancun, Cozumel International at Cozumel, Miguel Hidalgo at Guadalajara, General Rafael Buelna at Mazatlan, Manuel Crescencio Rejon at Merida, Benito Juarez at Mexico City, General Mariano Escobedo at Monterey, and Gustavo Diaz Ordaz at Puerto Vallarta. Mexican commercial aircraft carried 20,043,200 passengers on scheduled domestic and international flights in 2001. The main airline company is the newly privatised Aeroméxico.
Overview
Airports
1,834 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways
total: 231
over 3,047 m: 12
2,438 to 3,047 m: 29
1,524 to 2,437 m: 84
914 to 1,523 m: 77
under 914 m: 29 (2007)
Airports - with unpaved runways
total: 1,603
over 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 63
914 to 1,523 m: 408
under 914 m: 1,131 (2007)
Heliports
1 (2007)
Pipelines
gas 22,705 km; liquid petroleum gas 1,875 km; oil 8,688 km; oil/gas/water 228 km; refined products 6,520 km (2006)
Railways
total: 17,665 km
standard gauge: 17,665 km 1.435-m gauge (2006)