Automobile transport is encouraged by the fact that Venezuela has the lowest petrol prices in the world, at $0.18 per gallon ($0.05 per liter). In some cases, petrol is less expensive than
bottled water.
total: 96,155 km
paved: 32,308 km
unpaved: 63,847 km (1997 est.)
Motorways Venezuela has a fairly developed
motorway network, certainly more developed than in most of South American nations. It is especially operative in the Northern and Western parts of the country, connecting the main cities of the country. The following roads feature at least 4 lanes and double carriageway: • Autopista Barquisimeto - Acarigua. It runs from
Barquisimeto through
Cabudare to
Acarigua. Its length is 70 km. • Autopista Caracas - La Guaira. It runs from
Caracas to the
Maiquetía International Airport and
La Guaira. It extends for 30 km. • Autopista Cimarrón Andresote. It runs from
Barquisimeto through
San Felipe and
Morón. Its length is 125 km. • Autopista Circunvalación del Este. It runs from
Valencia to
Naguanagua. Its length is 13 km. • Autopista Circunvalación Norte. It serves as a bypass for
Barquisimeto. Its length is 30 km. • Autopista Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho. Projected to run from
Caracas to
Güiria, it is a motorway currently under construction, though parts of it are already in use, including
Caracas - Río Chico (98 km.),
Caucagua -
Higuerote (20 km.), Boca de Uchire -
Clarines (43 km.),
Píritu -
Puerto La Cruz (66 km.) and Santa Fe -
Cumaná (52 km). • Autopista José Antonio Páez. It runs from
Valencia to
Barinas. It also connects the cities of
San Carlos,
Acarigua and
Guanare. It has a length of 336 km. • Autopista Manuel Piar. It connects
Ciudad Guayana and
Upata. It stretches for 62 km. •
Autopista Regional del Centro. It is one of the most important motorways of the country, running between Venezuela's first and third biggest population centres:
Caracas and
Valencia. It also connects
Charallave,
Maracay and
Guacara. Its length is 160 km. • Autopista San Cristóbal - La Fría. It is a motorway currently under construction, projected to link
San Cristóbal and
La Fría. Some parts of the motorway are already open, such as
San Cristóbal - Palmira (18 km),
Lobatera -
San Juan de Colón (16 km) and San Félix -
La Fría (19 km). • Autopista Simón Bolívar. It links
Ciudad Guayana and
Puerto Ordaz with
Ciudad Bolívar. It has a length of 131 km. • Autopista Valencia - Puerto Cabello. It extends from
Guacara, to
Puerto Cabello in the Caribbean coast. It has a length of 60 km. • Autopista Valera - Trujillo. It connects the city of
Valera with
Trujillo. It extends for 34 km. • Autopista Zulia - Lara. It extends from
Barquisimeto to
Maracaibo, two of the main population centres of Venezuela. It also links
Carora,
Ciudad Ojeda and
Cabimas. It has a length of 293 km. • Avenida Juan Bautista Arismendi. It connects
Porlamar and
Punta de Piedras. It has a length of 36 km. • Carretera Rafael Caldera. It is a two lane expressway that links
Mérida with
El Vigía. It has a length of 60 km. • Intercomunal Coro - Punto Fijo. It connects
Coro and
Punto Fijo. It extends for 79 km. ==Waterways==