Obama said in an Oct. 13 speech in Toledo, Ohio, where he outlined his plan for reviving the economy, “We’ll create 2 million jobs by rebuilding our crumbling roads, schools and bridges.”

In a Feb. 2008 proposal, Obama called for an infrastructure bank – to invest $60 billion in roads, bridges and other projects over 10 years.

While Obama’s proposal acknowledges America’s infrastructure needs, the American Society of Civil Engineers says it would take $1.6 trillion over five years to adequately address the issue.

Still, Obama’s call for public works projects is reminiscent of how the last great economic crisis was addressed. Just as President Franklin D. Roosevelt both improved America’s basic utilities and put people back to work, President- Elect Obama seems to be suggesting much of the same.

Measure R, which barely passed the two-thirds threshold needed for approval, could fund the city’s “Subway to the Sea.” However, the money to begin the subterranean route – probably along the Wilshire corridor – will not be available until sometime between 2013 and 2015.

Proposition 1A, a bond measure, is just the first step in financing the eventual 800-mile rail system with trains running up to 220 mph. The project, with an anticipated cost of $45-billion, will need additional funding from either the federal government or the private sector to begin building.

Narrowly approved 52 percent to 48 percent, opponents question the estimated cost (claiming costs could nearly double during construction) and the actual need of such an advanced rail system in the region.

Blueprint America correspondent Rick Karr interviews advisors of both campaigns on how a President McCain or a President Obama would address four major infrastructure issues: roads versus rail; the fraying electrical grid; poor internet service; and whether or not the federal government should invest heavily in infrastructure as part of an economic stimulus package.

The collapse of the I-35W Bridge in Minneapolis in 2007 sparked a debate on how best to rebuild America’s decaying infrastructure. Some experts now estimate that the country needs to invest over $1.6 trillion to fix everything that’s in need of repair. Now, lawmakers on Capitol Hill are debating whether spending to patch up the infrastructure might stimulate the economy. But, where do the presidential candidates stand on that idea? In the last segment of a four part Blueprint America radio series, a report on how the country may be able to reinforce its economy and infrastructure at the same time.

[Transcript]

John McCain and Barack Obama agree that fixing the country’s infrastructure will be a priority. Yet neither one’s said much about it on the campaign trail. That’s probably because the country’s fighting two wars, and an economic slowdown.

“The discussion of infrastructure has been limited by those events.”

That’s Douglas Holtz-Eakin, McCain’s senior economic adviser. He says infrastructure projects are too often examples of pork-barrel spending – gifts from lawmakers to their constituents. Take the case of roads:

“We have to change the way we do business. Far too often we see our highway monies allocated on the basis of their political benefit and not their economic benefit.”

The Obama campaign emphasizes the power of infrastructure spending to create jobs. The centerpiece of the Democratic nominee’s proposal is the creation of a National Infrastructure Bank that will invest sixty billion dollars over ten years. Robert Paaswell is distinguished professor of civil engineering at the City College of New York. He says the idea is to get the states to cooperate with the federal government – by putting up a pot of money.

“Several billion dollars from which projects over $75 million dollars, worthy projects that hopefully are vetted can come to the table and find subsidies, or the feds can issue bonds, or the feds can loan money to the States to issue bonds.”

But as the economy continues to tank, Congress is not waiting for a new president. The $150 billion stimulus package currently calls for a hefty chunk of change to go toward upgrading roads, bridges and other infrastructure. Federico Pena is former Secretary of Transportation and Energy, and a spokesperson for the Obama campaign. He says the Illinois senator supports the idea.

“The Senator has made it clear that in the stimulus proposal he recommended that almost half of it would be directed to some form of infrastructure investment.”

Douglas Holtz-Eakin says McCain’s not opposed to the proposal in principal. But a President McCain would examine individual spending proposals, and oppose the ones that he decided won’t do much for the economy.

Blueprint America — with Weekend America on public radio — travels to St. Louis to visit the people who’re likely to suffer the most if transit officials do end up cutting service.

Rick Karr reports.

[Transcript]

Nobody really likes buses. It’s just that some people have no choice. Like Willie Kimbrough. He catches the bus every Monday through Friday. Willie Kimbrough has no choice because he uses a wheelchair, so it’s tough to navigate long distances on city sidewalks. As he’s leaving his job at a disabled-rights organization for the night, he and a couple of colleagues – one who’s vision-impaired and another in a wheelchair – head to a bus stop. They’ve all got plenty of criticisms of public transit. Take the bus stop across the road: It’s blocked by a trash can, and the sidewalk’s narrow. So when you roll off of the wheelchair lift, you’re likely to end up in a patch of grass, stuck.

“With obstacles like the trash can in the way, blocking the sidewalk,” says Kimbrough, “it’s impossible to get around there.”

Then there’s the waiting – and the weather. There’s no shelter at either stop, so with temperatures in the 40s and a stiff wind, the half hour between buses can seem like a very long time. And on the weekend? Forget it – some buses run every two hours, while others don’t run at all.

On the weekends, explains Kimbrough, “you have to find alternate transportation …you can’t afford to be late, you know!”

After nearly twenty minutes, the number 59 appears in the distance. The bus is finally on its way. But Kimbrough’s in for another annoyance: There are only two spots for wheelchairs, and one’s already occupied. So he lets his colleague roll onto the lift, and the driver checks with his dispatcher to find out how long Kimbrough’s going to have to wait. It’s going to be another half hour in the cold.

Disabled activists say they’d love to see better bus service in St. Louis: greater frequency, more space for wheelchairs, better bus stops. But unless voters actually decide to raise their own taxes – by voting for Proposition M – they’ll have to deal with worse service. Transit officials say a lot of cities are facing the same crisis, stemming from the same causes. First, the monthly cost of fuel for all those buses has quadrupled. Then there’s the Wall Street crisis.

Bob Baer, who runs the St. Louis system, says during the boom, transit agencies tried to improve their cash flow by investing in some exotic financial instruments. They were great until the economy tanked; now they cost money. Finally, there’s federal law, which specifies exactly how transit agencies have to make cuts.

“We can’t just cut buses, or trains, or call-a-ride,” says Baer, “you have to do it equitably. So, in effect, all the services we provide are going to get hit… Everything will be cut.”

Disabled activists worry most about cuts to that “call-a-ride” service – a network of vans that carry disabled riders who live too far away from a regular bus or train stop. Sarah Coyle, for example, who sits in her wheelchair in chilly pre-dawn darkness waiting for the van that takes her to work.

Coyle lives with her parents in a leafy suburb, more than a mile from the nearest bus stop, in a subdivision with no sidewalks. She worries about how she’ll deal with a service cut.

“I’m going to have to rely on my family,” she says. “And I’m very concerned about it, because my parents are getting older, and… it’s going to be harder on them and on me.”

For her, transit means the difference between utter dependence on others and a sense of freedom.

“It’s the ability to get to your job. To get to medical appointments, to participate in community life, without having to rely on other people,” she says. “The chance to be able to just go down the street… and hop on the bus and get to where you need to go.”

A few minutes later, the call-a-ride van pulls up, and Coyle rolls onto its lift.

There’s a button pinned to the back of her chair. It reads, “Vote yes on Proposition M.” As the van trundles off into the twilight, taking her to work, she says she hopes her neighbors are willing to pay a few dollars more in taxes. So that she can get around on her own.