It’s so easy to get on the bandwagon: lower my taxes, smaller and more efficient government, don’t touch my liberties, throw the bums out, etc. But what if that bandwagon has to cross a bridge? And what if that bridge hasn’t been maintained in years? An Op-Ed from Gridlock Sam.

We work for an engineering consulting company specializing in infrastructure. Everywhere we go people are asking us about how much of a boon the stimulus plan (formally the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, (ARRA)) has been for us. They seem surprised when we respond it has had little or no impact on our business.

Two years ago, during the Wednesday evening rush hour in Minneapolis on August 1, the I-35W bridge over the Mississippi River collapsed, killing 13 people and injuring 145. Have we learned any lessons from this tragedy that help make us safer today? Regrettably, the answer is no.

As the sage Yogi Berra once said, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it!” When it comes to financing transportation infrastructure, our nation has come to a fork in the road and we must take action.

President Obama’s high-speed rail plan is noble but sounds like and is today just a way to speed trips between certain cities (10 corridors at the moment). That’s just too short-sighted. We need a vision that links the country, all the major urban centers, together with high-speed rail.

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.

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.

Welcome to the inaugural issue of The Number Thirteen Line, a monthly blog about transportation in New York and around the world by "Gridlock Sam" Schwartz and Annie Weinstock. This month’s topic: The Stimulus Package and its impact on transportation.

Leading transportation engineer and former New York traffic commissioner Sam Schwartz analyzes President-elect Obama's plans to boost spending on America's infrastructure.