Editing Transport in Argentina (section)

== Road transport ==
{{See also|List of highways in Argentina}}

[[Image:Avenida General Paz entre Cabildo y Panamericana.jpg|thumb|The [[Avenida General Paz]] beltway freeway was first opened to the public in 1941.]]

Since Argentina is almost 4,000 kilometres long and more than 1,000&nbsp;km wide, long distance transportation is of great importance. Several toll expressways spread out from [[Buenos Aires]], serving nearly half the nation's population.  The majority of Argentine roads, however, are two-lane national and provincial routes and, though they are spread throughout the country, less than a third of Argentina's 230,000&nbsp;km (145,000&nbsp;mi)<ref name=adefa>{{cite web|url=http://www.adefa.com.ar/anuarios/anuario_2007/fscommand/complementary_data.pdf|title=ADEFA|website=adefa.com.ar}}{{Dead link|date=July 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=no }}</ref> of roads are currently paved.

Though, by 1929, Argentina was already home to over 400,000 vehicles,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cocheargentino.com.ar/varios/cronologia.htm|title=Coche Argentino - Cronología|website=cocheargentino.com.ar|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081029041831/http://www.cocheargentino.com.ar/varios/cronologia.htm|archive-date=2008-10-29}}</ref><ref>The World Almanac (1929), p.327.</ref> virtually all long-distance travel was done on the nation's vast railways.  Argentina, then, lacked a road-building program until 1932, when the National Highway Directorate was established.  Paid for at first with an excise tax on gasoline, the bureau could claim some important accomplishments, like the 1951 opening of the 200&nbsp;km [[Santa Fe, Argentina|Santa Fe]]-[[Rosario]] expressway.

Argentina is home to around 9.2 million registered cars, trucks and buses;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dnrpa.gov.ar/bolesta1/boletin1021/pagina11.htm|title=DNRPA|website=gov.ar|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090124191729/http://www.dnrpa.gov.ar/bolesta1/boletin1021/pagina11.htm|archive-date=2009-01-24}}</ref> on a per capita basis, it has long had Latin America's widest accessibility to motor vehicles.<ref>Encyclopædia Britannica Book of the Year, Statistical Appendix; various editions since 1948.</ref> Left-lane drivers until 1945, Argentine motorists have since been driving on the right-hand side. The [[Vehicle registration plates of Argentina]] are based on a three letters-three numbers per car (with the exception of some trucks) system.

Expressways have been recently doubled in length (to nearly)<ref name=sanluis>http://www.grupopayne.com.ar/archivo/01/0112/011211/institucionales/institucionales{{Dead link|date=August 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}. html</ref> and now link most (though not all) important cities.  The most important of these is probably the [[Panamerican Highway|Panamerican]] [[National Route 9 (Argentina)|National Route 9]] Buenos Aires – [[Rosario]] – [[Córdoba, Argentina|Córdoba]] freeway. The longest continuous highways are [[national Route 40 (Argentina)|National Route 40]], a 5000-km stretch along the [[Andes]] range and the 3000-km sea-side trunk road [[National Route 3 (Argentina)|National Route 3]], running from [[Buenos Aires]] to [[Ushuaia]].

=== Long distance buses ===

Argentine long distance buses are fast, affordable and comfortable; they have become the primary means of long-distance travel since [[Railway privatisation in Argentina|railway privatisations]] in the early 1990s greatly downsized Argentina's passenger rail service and plane tickets are more expensive. Competing providers differ little on their time-honoured formula, offering three different services regarding the number of stops and type of seats: the ''Regular'', ''Semi-cama'' (semi-bed), and ''Cama'' (bed), with ''Cama'' being similar to an airline's [[business class]] but the names vary. They may also be called ''Ejecutivo'', ''Cama-vip'', ''Cama-suite'' and some other names. Some services, usually the ones that are more expensive, have also on-board dining, while others stop at restaurants by the road. Long and middle-distance buses cover almost all paved-accessible cities, towns and villages.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}