A 2008 report by the Federal Transit Administration, “Transit State of Good Repair,” said one-quarter of the nation’s bus and rail assets are in marginal or poor condition. Still, any federal mass-transit inspections or findings are nothing but symbolic at-best. Unlike with the Food and Drug Administration, for example, the government cannot recall flawed equipment or issue citations for ignoring recommendations.

When the stimulus bill was passed last February, it sent billions of dollars to the nation's mass-transit agencies. Still, the money was purposed for only new equipment and construction -- nothing to operate the systems, even as many are cutting service, laying off workers or raising fares.

Blueprint America: Public Works is an effort by 18 public television stations across the country that concentrates on the state of their local infrastructure. Communities -- big and small, urban and rural -- are, for the first time, collectively rethinking what it takes to make a place livable. PBS stations are producing radio and television segments, hosting discussions between policy makers and their communities, and offering further content online, all as a part of Blueprint America.

It is fairly understood that America’s transportation infrastructure is in crisis. In 2008, the Federal Highway Trust Fund – the primary source of federal transportation funding –- nearly went bankrupt. And, it is about to again. Its main source of revenue –- the federal gas tax -- has not been raised since 1993 and the cost of maintaining and upgrading the nation’s roads and bridges increased 50 percent in the last ten years.

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

Blueprint America -- with The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer -- in a two part report looks at the bottlenecks of America's freight rail network, and the communities the trains intersect.

Two-thirds of all mass transit riders in the United States use the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) of New York’s system. The MTA board voted Wednesday “to enact a series of fare hikes and service cutbacks needed to keep the transit system from going broke.”

Today on The Number Thirteen Line: The future of rail transportation in New York. The Number Thirteen Line is a monthly blog about transportation in New York and around the world by "Gridlock Sam" Schwartz and Annie Weinstock.

As the economy slumps, Americans have increasingly turned to mass transit, putting new pressure on the agencies that run our buses, trains and subways. In the first segment of a two part report for Blueprint America, correspondent Rick Karr looks at how to operate a transit system with no money. Already, 60 transit agencies nationwide have proposed fare increases, service cuts, or both.