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.

Blueprint America correspondent Rick Karr interviews Edward Hamberger, President and CEO of the Association of American Railroads (AAR), about the state of freight rail in America today, as well as its future. The AAR represents the interests of the major freight railroads in the United States, Canada and Mexico, and Amtrak.

This is our year. Infrastructure is no longer just a word thrown about by policy wonks and engineers. The public, and more importantly politicians, have made public works, especially transportation, a front and center issue.

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.

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.

With transit agencies running in the red, some have found themselves linked to complex financial deals -- in the hopes of creating new revenue sources -- that have since soured as a result of the Recession, potentially leaving cash strapped systems owing millions more in debt. In the final segment of a two part report for Blueprint America, correspondent Rick Karr looks at the fallout of these arrangements as, in many cases, it's not just money but the safety of riders at risk. (Part 2 of 2)

A breakdown of Transportation and Infrastructure stimulus funding by state.

Driverless cars, intelligent traffic signals, road signs that speak to cars and cars that speak to drivers... These are not the dreams of mad scientists working in a remote region of the country. These are not part of an upcoming episode of a new series on the Sci-Fi channel either. But, these technologies might help save 21,000 of the 43,000 deaths annually recorded on America’s highways.