Extended interviews from Blueprint America: Road to the Future.

Extended interviews from Blueprint America: Road to the Future.

As Denver's growth rate has consistently outpaced the national rate every decade since the 1930s, its people have spread out across the region similar to Phoenix, Arizona, or Houston, Texas. Still, its mass transit system is expanding and, as a result, growth may be better managed in the future.

Some $120 billion will be spent on infrastructure as a part of the $787 billion economic stimulus package passed by Congress. The establishment of a National Infrastructure Bank was not included in the final recovery plan. As a result, other than an overall stimulus in infrastructure spending by the federal government, the funding practices for public works projects – largely for highways and mass transit – remain the same. Still, it is not yet clear how a National Infrastructure Bank would function.

A breakdown of the progress of the National Infrastructure Bank so far

An introduction to congestion pricing, its failure in New York City, and a Worldfocus report on the system in Singapore.

President Barack Obama has called for the creation of a National Infrastructure Bank. The intention: To create a structure so public works projects could be, according to the President while campaigning last year, “determined not by politics, but by what will maximize our safety and homeland security; what will keep our environment clean and our economy strong.” Still, it is unclear how a National Infrastructure Bank would function -- or even be established. Felix Rohatyn, author of Bold Endeavors: How our government built America, and why it must rebuild now, on the future of infrastructure investment in the United States.

President Obama has called for a National Infrastructure Bank. And, the structure already exists on the state level.

Stan Hazelroth, Executive Director of the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank, recently spoke with Blueprint America on the effectiveness of the program so far and how the structure might be applied federally.

The partnering stations of Blueprint America.

Ray Suarez (The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer) and David Brancaccio of (NOW on PBS) talk about reporting on America's infrastructure problems with Blueprint America.