Transportation and Communications
The state has a total of 3,349.5 km of highways, almost all of which is paved. 571 km of this is federal highway, 880.90 is state highway and 1,885.70 are rural roads. This includes a section of the Pan American Highway. The highway system centers on the capital and connects the state with Mexico City, Guadalajara, Ciudad Valles and north to Ciudad Juárez and the United States. Much of the rural highway infrastructure, especially in the Sierra Gorda area, is for the benefit of mining, agriculture and forestry. The most important of the interstate roads links the state with Mexico City metropolitan area and its market of 20 million people as well as 25 other million customers within 200 miles (320 km). The US border is a nine hour drive. To support the international transportation of goods, Querétaro has an inner customs office that facilitates the shipment of manufactured products to foreign countries. However, the highway system is most concentrated in the municipalities of Querétaro and San Juan del Río and the corridor in between. Fifty five percent of the traffic along this corridor begins or terminates within the state.
Other infrastructure includes water systems, public buses, rail lines, an international airport and radio and television stations. Most of the irrigation and water-storage areas are also concentrated in the Querétaro and San Juan del Rio municipalities. The capital is home to the state’s largest public bus terminal called the Terminal de Autobuses de Querétaro. This station is a transfer point for many who travel north or south in the country. Other major terminals exist in Colón, Tequisquiapan, Jalpan de Serra, San Juan del Río, Cadereyta and Amealco de Bonfil. The state has 338.9 km of rail line, much the same as it had when they were initially built in the early 20th century. They mostly carry freight and connect the cities of San Juan del Río, Tequisquiapan, Pedro Escobedo, Querétaro, Colón and El Marqués. The Querétaro International Airport began operations in 2004, replacing the older Ing. Fernando Espinosa Gutierrez Airport. Located in the capital, the facility handles both cargo and passengers.
The state has twenty radio stations, seventeen of which are commercial enterprises. Stations include XHUAQ, XHORT, XHOZ, XHOE, XHQTO, XHMQ, XHJHS, XHZQ, XHRQ, XEUAQ, XEQG, XEKH, XEXE, XWGV, XEQUE, XEJX, XEHY and XENA. Television stations are mostly repeaters of national channels such as Televisa and TV Azteca. Televisa has a local operation called Televisora Queretana. Only TV Q is a fully local station. Cable television for the state is provided by Telecable. Major newspapers and magazines include Noticias, Diario de Querétaro, Sol de San Juan, Financiero Regional, Nuevo Amanecer, Futuro de Querétaro, Para Comentar, Nuevo Milenio, Rotativo, Año 2000, Mundo de Querétaro, Agora, Cabañuelas, El Imparcial, El Informador, Mass, Magazine, Reporte (Q), Rincones Queretanos, Radar and El Informador de Santa Rosa Jáuregui.
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