Transportation
Due to its commercial and industrial significance, Ponce has consistently been a hub of transportation to the rest of the island.
Puerto Rico Highway 52 provides access to Salinas, Caguas, and San Juan. PR-2 grants access to southwestern and western municipalities as a full-access freeway. The PR-10 highway, which is still under construction as a faster alternative to PR-123, provides access to the north of the island (Arecibo). PR-1 provides access to various points east and southeast of Ponce, while PR-14 provides access to Coamo and other points in the central mountains. PR-132 grants country-side access to the town of Peñuelas. PR-123 is the old road to Adjuntas and, while treacherous, it does provide an appreciation for countryside living in some of the municipality's barrios.
The city is served by a network of local highways and freeways. Running entirely within the municipal limits are PR-12, PR-9, PR-133, and PR-163 and a few others. Freeway PR-12 runs northbound starting at the Port of Ponce to connect with PR-14 on the northeastern part of the city. PR-9, also known as the Circuito de Circumnavegacion de Ponce (Ponce's Circumferential Highway), is a highway still partly under construction. It runs mostly north of the city and connects PR-52 to PR-10 in an east-to-west fashion; when completed it will run as a beltway around most of the eastern and northern sections of the city. PR-133 (Calle Comercio) connects PR-2 in west Ponce to PR-132. It is an extension of PR-1 from its PR-2 terminus into the city center. PR-163 crosses the City east-to-west connecting PR-52 and PR-14.
Ponce's public transportation system consists of taxicabs and share taxi service providing public cars and vans known as publicos and a bus-based mass transit system. Most públicos depart from the terminal hub located in downtown Ponce, the Terminal de Carros Públicos Carlos Garay. During the 1990s and 2000s, there was also a trolley system reminiscent of the one the city used in the 19th century and which traveled through the downtown streets, and which was used mostly by tourists. Today it is used mostly during special events. There is also a small train that can bring tourists from the historic downtown area to the Paseo Tablado La Guancha on the southern shore, As with the trolley, today the train is used mostly during special events. A ferry provides service to Isla de Caja de Muertos. The new intra-city mass transit system, SITRAS, was scheduled to start operating in November 2011, and, after a 3-month delay, the $4 million SITRAS system, was launched with 11 buses and three routes in February 2012. A fourth route was to be added for the El Tuque sector according to a 30 June 2012 news report.
Mercedita Airport sits 3 miles (4.8 km) east of downtown Ponce and handles both intra-island and international flights. The airport, used to be a private airfield belonging to Destileria Serralles rum distillery before it became a commercial airport serving the Ponce area in the 1940s. There is daily commercial non-stop air service to points in the United States.
Since 1804, Ponce already boasted its own port facilities for large cargo ships. The Port of Ponce is Puerto Rico's chief Caribbean port. It is known as the Port of the Americas and is under expansion to convert it into a major international shipping hub. It receives both cargo as well as passenger cruise ships. A short-haul freight railroad also operates within the Port facilities.
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