Blueprint America — with NOW on PBS — in a report with correspondent Miles O’Brien looks at the massive amount of freight moved throughout the country — mainly by trucks on an aging highway infrastructure that’s crumbling and bursting at the seams. With projected population growth and a rebounding economy, experts say it is only going to get worse.

So as Congress begins a major rewrite of the nation’s transportation laws, many are asking if it is time to redirect freight traffic off congested highways onto more environmentally friendly and fuel efficient railroads. Sounds good, but there is a catch. Unlike highways that receive public funding, railroads are private. Should taxpayers sink public money into a private railway system? And where should the money come from?

Freight yard in New Jersey

Though the competition for investment dollars is heating up, the two systems depend heavily on each other — a train hitched with 250 trailers needs 250 trucks to move that freight to its final destination.

To try and figure out who should pay the freight, O’Brien travels to a trucking school in Central New Jersey, where he learns to back up a big rig, to Bayonne, New Jersey, where massive amounts of consumer products come to port every day, and to Washington, DC, where transportation policies are under debate.

With gas prices spiking and home values tumbling, people who live in far out suburbs are being forced to rethink the way they live. Blueprint America — with NOW on PBS — travels to southern California where the infrastructure for public transit is limited, and long-haul commuters are facing desperate times.

NOW’s David Brancaccio introduces us to homeowners in Riverside, California, who face a daily 144-mile round-trip commute to their jobs in San Diego. Since gas prices have skyrocketed many Riverside residents find themselves making unexpected economic choices: do they pay for the gas to drive to work or do they

pay the monthly mortgage on their homes? Across the country, Brancaccio reports, exurban neighborhoods are suffering exceedingly high foreclosure rates. Brancaccio talks to local transportation experts about commuting solutions, many of whom applaud California’s new landmark legislation to control sprawl. Will California’s “Smart Growth” initiatives provide a model for the rest of the country? Who will pay for these programs and what do the presidential candidates have to say about federal involvement in transit infrastructure?

Back in the remote outer-suburbs, Brancaccio talks to the families struggling with expensive and arduous commutes. If busses and trains were available, would they take advantage? Their answers will surprise you.

THE BIRTH OF RAIL
1873	Main Street Railroad Company The Los Angeles City Council authorized the maintenance of two railroad tracks. The Main Street Railroad Company began, but nothing ever came of the project.
1874	Spring and West 6th Street Railroad The Spring and 6th Street franchise started, serving the downtown Los Angeles area. This single track horse car line began public transit in Los Angeles.
1874-1875	Main Street & Agricultural Railroad The Main Street and Agricultural Railroad was the first suburban line in Los Angeles.
1875	East Los Angeles & San Pedro Railway Company Due to low patronage, the railway company went under in just four years.
RAIL EXPANSION and MODERNIZATION
1875-1899	Los Angeles & Aliso Street Railroad Company Regular service began in 1877 and as ridership increased a second line, the East First Street line, was built. In 1899, it became a cable railway.
1883	City Railroad Company The first line dedicated exclusively to public transit; other lines had been largely focused on real estate promotion.
1885	Second Street Cable Railroad Company Operated on a single track system.
1886	The Central Railroad Company Developed in 1883 to be a part of the Los Angeles & Aliso Railroad. It eventually merged with City Railroad.
1886-1888	Temple Street Cable Railway Company Carried more passengers than any of the other lines at the time.
1896-1897	Many of the major horse and cable cars operating in Los Angeles converted to electrical power.
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DEATH OF THE TROLLEY
1911	Pacific Electric Railway Company Eight separate companies merged into the Pacific Electric Railway Company.
1925-1955	Pacific Electric Subway The Subway opened on November 30, 1925, running 1,045 feet underground. In 1955, the last line using the subway was converted to buses. By 1933, Pacific Electric and Los Angeles Railway also began bus passenger service, but patronage of both rail and bus had been hurt by the wide-spread use of the automobile.
1945	Los Angeles Transit Lines The controlling interest in the Los Angeles Railway was purchased by National City Lines, which was run by the five Fitzgerald brothers and had support from the oil industry. They renamed it the Los Angeles Transit Lines, substituting buses on most of the street car lines. Further reading on the death of the trolley in L.A.: “Did Auto, Oil Conspiracy Put the Brakes on Trolleys?” (Los Angeles Times, March 23, 2003) “The Fitzgeralds Go. West.” (Time, December 18, 1944)
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FROM PRIVATE TO PUBLIC TO TODAY
1953-1958	Metropolitan Coach Lines Pacific Electric sold its passenger rail cars and buses to the Metropolitan Coach Lines bus company.
1951-1964	Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority This agency was created by the California Legislature to develop a monorail system along the Los Angeles River. In 1958, the Transit Authority purchased Metropolitan Coach Lines and Los Angeles Transit Lines. Paid for with state dollars, operation of transportation in Los Angeles was public for the first time.
1964-1993	Southern Rapid Transit District Mandated by the legislature to improve bus systems, and design and build a transit system for Los Angeles.
1976-1993	Los Angeles County Transportation Commission The California legislature created the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission (LACTC) to oversee public transit and highway policy in the nation’s largest county.
1992-present	Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Metrolink operations began. The new MTA was created by Legislature, merging the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission and the Southern California Rapid Transit District.
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Sources: Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Electric Railway Historical Association of Southern California

Photos: Courtesy of Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Archive

At the edge of the city is the suburb. At the edge of the suburb, as metropolitan areas have expanded out, is the exurb. Located on the urban fringe, an exurb has at least 20 percent of its workers commuting to jobs in urbanized areas, low housing density and, at the same time, relatively high population growth.

Some notable exurbs around the country:

- Elk Grove, California

- North Las Vegas, Nevada

- Port St. Lucie, Florida

- Gilbert, Arizona

- Cape Coral, Florida

- Moreno Valley, California

- Rancho Cucamonga, California

- Miramar, Florida

- Chandler, Arizona

- Irvine, California

For resources on exurbia, click here.

What is New Urbanism?

New Urbanism is a city-planning movement that began in the 1980’s to emphasize more old-fashioned community building over suburban sprawl. A development built along New Urbanist principles is walkable with a higher population density, has a mix of businesses and public space, and all housing units in close proximity.

New Urbanism sees a great deal of overlap with Transit Oriented Developments (TODs), but TODs focus more explicitly on putting mass transit stops for subway, bus, or light rail within walking distance of major developments.

Supporters claim that such developments, created by New Urbanist planning or TODs, foster a closer-knit community, provide easier access to necessities, and are more ecologically sustainable. But detractors point out that not everybody is looking for a more urban lifestyle with smaller backyards and living spaces, busier communities, or neighborhoods that are intentionally unaccommodating to cars.

Examples of New Urbanist communities around the country:

- Meridian Mission, California

- City of Villages, California

- East Garrison, Claifornia

- Seaside, Florida

- Mashpee Commons, Massachusetts

- Magniolia, Georgia

- Southwood, Florida

- New Haven, Ohio

- West Village, Texas

- Seabrook, Washington

- Barboursville, West Virginia