All of the major transportation systems in Haiti are located near or run through the capital, Port-au-Prince.
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Haiti has two main highways that run from one end of the country to the other. The northern highway, Route Nationale #1 (National Highway One), originates in Port-au-Prince, winding through the coastal towns of Montrouis and Gonaïves, before reaching its terminus at the northern port Cap-Haïtien. The southern highway, Route Nationale #2, links Port-au-Prince with Les Cayes via Léogâne and Petit-Goâve. Maintenance for these roads lapsed after the 1991 coup, prompting the World Bank to loan US$50 million designated for road repairs. The project was canceled in January 1999, however, after auditors revealed corruption. Haiti also has a third major highway, the Route Nationale #3, which connects Port-au-Prince to Cap-Haïtien via the towns of Mirebalais and Hinche. This route links the capital and Le Cap to the central plateau; however, due to its poor condition, it sees limited use.
The most common form of public transportation in Haiti is the use of brightly painted pickup trucks as taxis called "tap-taps" They are named this because when a passenger needs to be let off they use their coin money to tap the side of the vehicle and the driver usually stops. Most tap-taps are fairly priced at around 10-15 gourdes per ride within a city. The catch to the price is that the driver will often fill a truck to maximum capacity, which is nearly 20-30 people.
The port at Port-au-Prince, Port international de Port-au-Prince, has more registered shipping than any of the over dozen ports in the country. The port's facilities include cranes, large berths, and warehouses, but these facilities are in universally poor shape. The port is underused, possibly due to the substantially high port fees compared to ports in the Dominican Republic.
The port of Saint-Marc is currently the preferred port of entry for consumer goods coming into Haiti. Reasons for this may include its location away from volatile and congested Port-au-Prince, as well as its central location relative to a large group of Haitian cities including Cap-Haïtien, Carrefour, Delmas, Desarmes, Fond-Parisien, Fort-Liberté, Gonaïves, Hinche, l'Artibonite, Limbe, Pétionville, Port-de-Paix, and Verrettes. These cities, together with their surrounding areas, contain about six million of Haiti's eight million people.
NEGL; less than 100 km navigable
none (1999 est.)
Cap-Haïtien, Gonaïves, Jacmel, Jérémie, Les Cayes, Miragoâne, Port-au-Prince, Port-de-Paix, Saint-Marc, Fort-Liberté
Haiti has one of the oldest maritime histories in the Americas.
The Panama Canal Railway Company ran a shipping line with three ocean liners that traveled between New York City (USA) - Port-au-Prince (Haiti) - Cristobal (Panama). The company had facilities in Port-au-Prince and their ocean liners stopped there. It has not had any known railroad operations in Haiti.
The three ocean liners were:
International flights: Toussaint Louverture International Airport (formerly known as Port-au-Prince International Airport), which opened in 1965 (as François Duvalier International Airport), is located 10 km North/North East of Port-au-Prince. It is Haiti's only jetway, and as such, handles the vast majority of the country's international flights. Air Haïti, Tropical Airways and a handful of major airlines from Europe, the Caribbean, and the Americas serve the airport.
Domestic flights: are available through Sunrise Airways which is Haiti's largest airline for the general public offering scheduled, as well as, charter flights. Another domestic company is, Mission Aviation Fellowship catering to non-Catholic registered Christians.
14 (2007 est.)
In the past Haiti used railroads, but today they are no longer in use due to other forms of transportation that have become available.
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