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.

Two of the Big Three on transportation and infrastructure reform in America, Gov. Ed Rendell, Democrat of Pennsylvania, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Republican of California (they make up the group, Building America's Future, along with Mayor Mike Bloomberg, Independent of New York City), in a conversation on that very same subject -- calling for a reprioritization of infrastructure development and planning throughout the country. Not only will it modernize infrastructure, they say, bringing it into the 21st century, but it will also quicken economic recovery. By that standard, America is already a decade behind.

A breakdown of provisions and funding requirements for mass transit in The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.