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.

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.

Blueprint America correspondent Rick Karr on the viability of electric rail in America.

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.

With carbon emissions caps on the Obama Administration's agenda, coal is at the center of the energy debate. NOW's Senior Correspondent Maria Hinojosa goes to Wyoming to report on the state's coal industry, and its assertion that it can produce "clean coal" -- coal that can be burned without releasing carbon into the atmosphere.

New York mayor Michael Bloomberg unveiled six infrastructure projects across the city that will receive $261 million in stimulus funds, including the Brooklyn Bridge. Check out our interactive map for more about each project.