Senator Obama's campaign website is full of references to infrastructure investment, mostly through a national infrastructure bank that has been proposed by Senators Dodd and Hagel. However, he did not go far enough last night in addressing the country's need for these investments. McCain, on the other hand, did not mention infrastructure at all, nor does his website mention it.

Last night, I wanted to hear the candidates talk about how they would strengthen the US economy by helping our cities and metropolitan regions be more productive. This means improving transportation. We need to expand our public transit systems so that our workforces aren't spending endless hours in traffic jams, so that our development patterns aren't so sprawling and wasteful. We should be building high-speed rail between major cities so that we can take the pressure off of our over-burdened air transportation system. Our metropolitan regions aren't just competing with one another, but with the cities in Europe and Asia. These cities are aggressively building 21st century transportation systems that will reduce their dependence on oil. We need to improve our road systems, but we also need to learn that we will never solve our traffic problems by building more roads and highways. More roads beget more traffic.

Today the Gotham Gazette ran a great article on the candidates' views of transportation spending. If anyone else has any doubt, they can look to this recent Senate vote for Washington, D.C.'s Metro system. Because the Senate voted yes, D.C.'s subway and bus network will receive federal funds for badly-needed capital projects. Senator McCain voted against it while Senator Obama voted for it. Senator McCain's vote didn't make those living in Northern Virginia very happy. They know that the Metro is a vital component of the region's transportation system.

I would have also liked to hear the candidates talk about how as President they would assist cities and towns that are now struggling to maintain their budgets. Watch this clip of the Mayor of Stamford, Connecticut describe the difficulties facing cities today.