With the 2012 elections not that far off, Republicans are taking on President Obama’s high-speed rail plan.

Sometimes responsibility is in the eye of the beholder. For example, what is the best way to invest in the nation's infrastructure? In the state of Wisconsin, the governor declined $810 million worth of federal stimulus money for a high speed rail initiative because he says the state couldn't afford to maintain the system and that money should be spent on roads, not rail. However, in Illinois, the governor sees his responsibility differently. A look at the future of passenger rail.

A look back at an interview with then-ranking minority leader of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Rep. John Mica (R., Fla.), as he is set to take over as Chair next year.

You can “Take the ‘A’ train” in New York City, but in Denver, Minneapolis, Washington, D.C., Des Moines and a handful of other communities, you can hop on the ‘B’… for bicycle.

Remember your old friend, The Bill? That lovable Schoolhouse Rocks' character? Well... He's gone missing. And the ransom: $6.5 billion... Or he gets it. Maybe that's a little extreme. But, the Sunlight Foundation, a non-profit government watchdog, reported this week that there was "$6.5 billion worth of unspent earmarks from the most recent transportation funding bill" passed in 2005. The group is calling the unspent money, "Disappearmarks."

The transportation bill -- the massive legislation authorizing and funding the country’s roads and mass-transit infrastructure (from highways to bus lanes to railways to bike lanes) -- expires every six years. That, however, does not mean a new bill is passed every six-years. It’s Washington, D.C., after all. Come along with Blueprint America correspondent Miles O'Brien as he talks to people on Capitol Hill about how the transportation bill becomes a law.

Blueprint America: Beyond the Motor City examines how Detroit, a symbol of America’s diminishing status in the world, may come to represent the future of transportation and progress in America.

High-speed rail in California, in addition to connecting the state's major cities, will link some 20 smaller cities to the industries and economies of those larger centers. And as train stops were determined, no one wanted to be passed by. Blueprint America followed Mayor Jesus Gamboa as he lobbied the California High-Speed Rail Authority for a train stop for the city of Visalia.

At midnight Wednesday, the federal transportation law funding national highway and transit programs expired. Amid a lack of consensus in Congress on what to do—as the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has been at odds with both the Senate and the Obama Administration—the current law was extended for one-month. However, it is a short-term fix.