Way, route, course, passage, pass, artery mean, in common, a track or path traversed in going from one place to another.
Way is general and inclusive of any track or path; it can specifically signify a thoroughfare especially in combinations and in fixed phrases or a direction or track that is, or can or should be, followed.
The term also can be extended to what leads in a specified or implied nonspatial direction or toward a specified or implied end.
Route signifies a way, often circuitous, followed with regularity by a person or animal or laid out to be followed (as by a tourist or army).
Course may be interchangeable with route but more often implies a path followed by or as if by a stream, star, or other moving natural object impelled by or in a path determined by natural forces or a predetermined or more or less compulsory way or route followed in human activities or enterprises.
Passage stresses a crossing over or a passing through, often designating the thing passed through, usually something narrow where transit might be restricted.
Pass usually designates a passage through or over something that presents an obstacle (as a mountain or river).
Artery is applied to one of the great continuous traffic channels (as a central rail route, river, or highway) from which branch off smaller or shorter channels.