Blueprint America is an ongoing effort to document America’s aging infrastructure on public radio and public television. The latest program Road to the Future is set to air on Wednesday, May 20 on PBS. This installment on growth and development looks at Denver, Portland and New York City to outline how each has charted their path to where they are now.
The program focuses on the steps the America needs to take in order to remain competitive in the global economy, taking into account climate change, population growth and diminishing natural resources. Several reports have appeared on the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, and a number of these reports are archived on the website for viewing in full.
I just watched a report called Slow Train Coming about rail freight in and around Chicago, and was astounded by some of the low-tech issues that plague this freight bottleneck. Given the efficiencies of rail, it’s astounding that modernizing this infrastructure has taken a back seat for so long. There are encouraging signs that investments will be made to correct this problem.
Some of the other topics that this series is tackling are: commuting and transit; bridges and roads; water; power and energy; and shipping and cargo.
As an aside, I was really excited to discover PBS Video, a beta site for finding and viewing full-length programming online.
