Read producer Bryan Myers’ blog posts from the field: Truckin’ through Brazil, Brazil plans to improve highways and Brazil privatizes its roadways.

Although Brazil is almost the size of the United States, it doesn’t have nearly as many major highways. Apart from areas around São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, most roads labeled as “highways” are actually two-lane roads. Many of them are in poor shape. Adding to Brazil’s highway headaches are the large number of 18-wheelers on the road—in Brazil, most goods are shipped by truck.

But if Brazil’s president has his way, that’s all about to change. Last year, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announced the most ambitious plan to overhaul the nation’s infrastructure in Brazilian history. Lula’s plan calls for spending over $250 billion on infrastructure projects by the year 2010 — $17 billion of that will go toward fixing roads.

Lula’s plan couldn’t come at a more crucial time. Along with China and India, Brazil is one of the world’s hottest economies. Much of its newfound wealth is the result of exporting commodities like iron ore, coffee and soybeans. In turn, a newly prosperous middle class is hungry for imports of consumer goods. Timely shipments are essential to keeping the wheels of commerce turning.

Singapore was the first country in the world to implement Electronic Road Pricing (ERP), an electronic toll collection system which aims to reduce traffic — and indeed, less than 30 percent of Singaporeans now own cars.

Other cities have attempted similar measures to reduce congestion. This year, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s plan to charge traffic fees in peak hours was struck down.

Despite Singapore’s successes, as producers Mary Lockhart and Ara Ayer and correspondent Daljit Dhaliwal report, the automatic fees take a toll on Singapore’s commuters. Below, read blogger perceptions of ERP and Singapore’s infrastructure.

Despite the costs, “Thë bLög accördïиg to jëиz” praises the speed of ERP compared to stopping at tollbooths in other countries.

Singaporean blogger “Glynsen Wong” refutes government justifications of the ERP, describing his frustrating commute.

The “Cruising to Cambodia” blog visits Singapore and praises its subway system as well as its roads and buildings.

Another visitor, blogger “Valliappa Lakshmanan,” claims that beneath the exterior beauty of Singapore’s buildings, lackluster building codes prove that it is still a third-world country.

Finally, the “Life in Dubai” blog compares the infrastructure of Dubai and Singapore, praising and posting images of Singapore’s restored buildings.

Though Singapore tore down many buildings in a rush to modernize, it embarked on a five-year restoration program in the 1990s.

Singapore

Traffic gridlock is hindering economic productivity and increasing pollution in countries around the globe. Worldfocus producer Mary Lockhart travels to Singapore to see how that country is trying to get commuters out of theirs cars and into rapid transit buses and subways with a traffic congestion pricing scheme.

Brazil

Analysts predict Brazil will have the world’s fourth-largest economy in the world behind China, US and India by 2050. But experts fear Brazil’s underdeveloped infrastructure will hinder its economic development. Only 12 percent of the Brazil’s 1 million miles of roads are paved. Worldfocus producer Bryan Myers travels to Rio De Janeiro to see how the government and private companies are partnering to fix Brazil’s highways. Public-private partnerships are also under consideration in America, where states are looking for ways to fund repairs to their roads.