@Phoenix so true, any time some region (ex. Hongkong, Emirates) goes free market their economy skyrockets and the opposite happens when the government grows too big.
Home Wall of course not just look at the health insurance, energy, pharmaceutical. Companies will bribe politicians for contracts. Stop that or there will be no difference.
Watch his reporting long enough and you will see what I mean. Always keep in mind it is for the purpose to persuade you. Note how in this video for example, he dismisses trains as just romantic, avoiding the issue of traffic congestion (we can’t build freeways endlessly). We get that his beef is with historically gov’t doing things more expensive than private, but mass transit never should have been shelved in the first place. It’s like playing catch up and the whole thing really is a big mess.
I thought you typed, "Its 2018, I have a feeling that the constitution is still not complete." Which also sounds about right. Need a clause in there that caps the tax rate and says what it should be used for.
I love you John Stossel, "Politicians have different incentives, like sucking up to other politicians. Government workers have time to stand around." Hahahahahahahah.
@@pimpnamedslickback7780 depending on the train. I live in Sacramento and travel to San Francisco often. One way ticket to San Francisco using Megabus costs $10-25 depending on time of day, I go in the morning so I always pay $10. The trip takes 2 hours. If I was to take Amtrak I would pay $45 and the trip will take...2 hours Megabus has chargers, WiFi, soft seats, luggage space, and you can pay extra for a seat with a table. Plus in the less busy times, like 6am Sac -> SF and 9pm SF -> Sac the Megabus tickets are under $5. Once it was $1! So if I stay late in San Francisco I can go back for really cheap :)
I am in WPB, and will probably never take Brightline. Too expensive, have to drive to the train and take a shuttle or taxi once to my destination. It also has to stop to pick up and drop off passengers and drive slow through most of the towns. Floridians repeatedly voted "NO" for the high speed trains, and miraculously it is being built. I heard, and did not fact check it, but it was really put in to get more freight trains through due to the traffic problems we now have. (thanks to our wonderful state and local people in charge, allowing more and more mass building with no thought to the traffic) Not trying to argue, just my thoughts on Brightline.
@planningperson laidbackdeep I would disagree. I've been to Europe. Planes are much better than trains. And honestly, trains are a ton more expensive. Maybe you missed it, but in Greece, they found that it would have been cheaper to hire an individual taxi for each passenger on the train, than running the train system. It's part of why Greece went broke, and crashed. The price of train ticket may not be much different than that of a plane, but that's only because the government is taking your income in taxes, to pay money to keep the ticket prices low. Do you want to have 50% taxes in the US? I don't. Sorry.
@@nickdorsey2460 My gosh the ignorants on here. I ask them how long have they actually gone though life using "your" instead of "you're". The next most common is "there, their and they're" followed by "breaks, brakes".
The problem isn’t spending more, but getting value for what we spend. I already pay $185 in registration fees for my car, $400 per year in personal property taxes on my car. Plus sales tax, federal and state gas taxes, fees on travel. No to mention Federal income taxes of 33% and state taxes of 7% and real estate property taxes of $10,000. And about $100 month in tolls, and special taxes on parking, hotels. etc. Enough is enough. In my state the gas taxes are seen as a kitty to allocate to other budget line items.
I just gotta ask: where the hell do you live? I pay $200 a year to have 4 vehicles on the road, and I dont have 'vehicle property tax'. Ive never heard of such a thing.
@@LrulestheworldM8 commercial vehicles get charged property taxes for different states regardless of where it's from. Alabama if I'm not mistaken is one of them with such a charge.
@@LrulestheworldM8 Here In Iowa, I have 3 autos, one I pay a registration fees of about 650 for my Truck for at least 10 years, the wife's car is about 150 dollars, and the older SUV for the boys is still 400 and will be for another 7 years. Some states Like VA also charge a tax on personal property, just like what is charged for house/land property taxes. I also pay about 10 grand per year for the house and it is only about 200,000 in value.
LRulesTheWorld yeah we, in Virginia, have to pay a personal property tax on our automobile even though we paid a tax on the same automobile on the day of purchase. The nicer the vehicle the more you pay until you sell it
We used to have an extensive national private rail network and many local streetcar systems... until the government started heavily subsidizing car infrastructure.
In Seattle, we voted on a Sound Transit #3 for trains that nobody wants, and most of the money being taxed is used to pay off the overruns from Sound Transit #2. If only we had free market solutions for transit...
I decided to put John Stossel to the test and see how much it would cost via Amtrak or Grayhound. So I picked a city and picked a day and here's what I found: The bus was slower, BUT it was cheaper by nearly $20. First, I had to take a bus to ANOTHER STATE so I can even reach the Amtrak train on the day I wanted it. The bus also had three transfers at its own stations. Amtrak? Well, there was at least one transfer where I had to arrange my own ride to get to my next connection. This is why no one uses Amtrak.
That’s just inflation if the US dollar. They have to raise prices to be able to keep up. Sadly, federal reserve notes are not a reliably stable currency because our government keeps printing trillions for stupidity. This is why Bitcoin and gold are going up. When I grow up I will definitely invest in gold, silver and maybe even Bitcoin!
Busses still run on public roads as far as I know. Factor in the cost of those roads before you conclude that trains are worse. The future of America is crumbling roads.
Crumbling roads are thanks to government overregulation. Any sane person would want to use as little asphalt/concrete as possible to get people from A to B. However, DC isn't sane. Narrow roads and less stupid parking legislation will make people switch to smaller and lighter vehicles which will make the infrastructure degrading slower which means there are more resources to maintain the road network better.
@@hendrikdependrik1891 The funny thing about corruption is that it isn't caused by the people taking the bribes. It is caused by the people offering the bribes. If you think the government is dysfunctional remember that the business people getting all of the bloated unsupervised contracts and using the profits to bribe through the next political cycle.
Well, Austria and Switzerland heavily promote the train. Trains make sense in the mountains. Tunneling for car/truck traffic is quite expensive. Also, cars are slow and dangerous on mountainous roads. The Alps also want to be clean and green. However, when it's less mountainous, public transit in whatever form always seem to fail compared to cars and even the bicycle.
Austria is a much smaller country in terms of land mass and population, also America has extreme terrain differentials. I don’t think comparing Austria to America makes sense.
@@Canis_dirus300 Austria is one of the least densely populated countries in Europe. There are also vast differences between it's mountainous west and swampy east, we even have some steppe. If you want to travel between urban centers a train always makes more sense than a bus. It is just so much more energy-effecient (nearly no friction). The US has more than enough resources to have a world-class train network.
Conditioning, convenience, familiarity, and freedom of movement of getting goods and services to shipped to your doorstep, whereas trains that can haul more goods overall only go to specified locations.
"Buses get no subsidy?" Who builds and maintain the roads they run on? Who builds, maintains, and operates airports? (And if you think either one pays enough user fees or taxes to cover the costs, you'd better take a course in economics.)
I grew up in the US. Can't get anywhere without a car. Road trips are fun. Flexibility is nice. But it's pretty shitty on a day to day basis: gas is expensive and rush hour has turned into an almost ALL day affair in many major cities. I have been around the world at this point. It is like night and day being in countries with walkable neighborhoods. It's super convenient getting around without a car because a combination of high speed rail, light rail, and buses has you covered. We don't have infrastructure like this in the US but we could have. Investing in mass transit gives a huge return in increased economic activity. People can get around for work or play more easily, and they spend/generate money when doing so. So, to define mass transit as only buses is weird. Defining trains as rural boondoggles is weird to anyone who's been to Europe. This whole US conversation about mass transit is insane.
I love Stossel. I followed his reporting ever since he did the flood damaged cars in Kansas City that was back when I was in college that, was in the 80s. See consistently always has good stuff from a different viewpoint always refreshing always good communication. I wish him nothing more than the best of health and many years to come.
You mean the limited amount of fare saver tickets you have to buy months in advance? Those are $80 now. Try going during any sort of holiday and watch the price triple.
In the 1970s the Penn Central transportation company was responsible for the mass transit system. However the whole Penn Central was a mess and commuter rail was no exception so instead of reinvest and make it nice they used old beat up and broken down cars and locomotives and went into bankruptcy in 1971. When Conrail took over their still was no money in the commuter rail and they were bleeding cash like mad so the government took over instead to fix up the line. For anyone curious their is a book the men who loved trains which covered it really well.
Well, rail technically is the most efficient form of transportation. I visited Japan a month ago and the Tokyo subway system is a wonder, I honestly hate driving after experiencing it. However to all the Liberals, the subway system in Tokyo and the Shinkansen High Speed rail going between cities is all privately built and run :)
Having spent 12.5yrs in the military and now living in Milwaukee with eyes to really see the world; it amazes me of how ridiculous California is with money and nothing to show for any of it other than "nice houses".
They have been, Look at Japan, private high speed rail turns a multi billion dollar profit. This guy is spreading lies that the auto industry told us when they ripped up the streetcars.
@@maxleonard5723 if your 90% of population lives densly on coastlines then sure it will make profit. US tho? Venice has gondols lets build them in Houston!!
@@eustacebagge3869 If you think the taxes paid by bus companies and trucking companies comes even close to covering the maintenance cost of the streets, roads, and highways they use, much less building them, then you had better do some research on what things cost, and who pays for them.
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha... it is so funny to watch this guy saying this things today. Thank you for that late joke!
Inniman!: They have one. It's called the Auto Train. It runs p2p from the Washington D.C. area to the Orlando area. It is a passenger train with auto racks as well so you can take that train and bring your car with you. It is Amtrak's most lucrative service, why it isn't more common is a mystery to me.
Inniman! Because the government gave us cheap roads! Had we not spent trillions on a federal highway system, the private railroads likely would have autotrains crisscrossing the country right now.
The east coast is pretty much the only place where the Auto Train format would work right now, though I think they could make money by adding a terminal closer to New York. It's the Seinfeld express.
A teacher at my school gave me the example of the how it takes 6 people to dig a hole and how it's just one guy digging a hole with 5 other guys staring down the hole and then they sit around and that'll be all they do for the day 😂.
I'm just glad this kind of thing isn't exclusive to my country Argentina, where populism is so widespread. We need to turn people away of their confidence on the government.
For the Amtrak argument, I feel they should shut down routes with low demand (lot of the historical routes) and get track rights alongside cargo trains company.
Aww :( i guess that is the first tume i disagree with you Herr Stossel. In switzerland and japan the railroad brings people faster and saver to almost any point of the country for a moderate price. The example for Amtrsks seats being only filled for about 30%, can apply to California. But also in switzerland you got trains filled only for 20% when you dont use the rushhour trains. But as a conductor i might be biased.
its a whole different system, the American Amtrack costs about as much as a plane ticket to the destination you wanted to get to!! While the bus lands at about 1/5th of that or less, it just isnt worth it for both the train companies and the people to go around in trains anymore since there are options and competitions from all parts of the travel industry that try to break a profit etc so it just isnt worth it outside larger cities such as NewYork to have railroads used for human transports. The seats are filled to about 30% (which is crazy high considering the options) on averege from bigger cities and even less in places where its less dense. Japan usually have their trains filled 200% during rushhours and 80-160% when its not peak, one of many reasons its so cheap people actually use it cause there is a need for it! Economics 101 if there is a need it will be filled and trains in the US is more or less not needed at this time (for human transports ofc).
You may be biased as much or as little as you want. The problem is, it is a stupid system where the right hand is not aware of the actions of the left hand. 1)You have cars on public roads. They pay a gas tax, but that is not a road tax. It is used to fix the budget. Still, the expenses and incomes should be so-so. 2)Then you have trucks on subsidized public roads and they pay at best 1/10 of wear and tear they cause. So it is subsidized by the government. Hundreds of billions of Euros per year. I would not be surprised had this trucking industry subsidy formed the majority of budget deficits. if not all. It is at least 200 billion USD per year in the USA. 3)You have passenger trains on subsidized rail, that does not make money because people use public roads. And therefore subsidized by the government. It used to work in times of huge factories with 5000 of workers on the mainline. It no longer does, because the government will gladly bill the infrastructure(among other expenses) required for your brand new factory located in the middle of wheat fields. If roads are the only way to get there, I do not think ppl are going to use trains. 4)Then you have freight rail on the subsidized, passenger rail, that is not subsidized because obviously, it is a private endeavor. But it does not make much money, because it a) it uses passenger rail b) the trucking competition is subsidized by hundreds of billion of Euros. C) idiotic planing mentioned in the no 3. Now, it does not matter if trains are used by 60% of people or by 6%. The problem is all those lorries pulverizing roads and causing budget deficits. Once you bill truckers their fair share of expenses, you solve the whole conundrum.
The first subways in New York were public/private joint ventures. They would not have been done solely by private companies without the involvement, encouragement, and help of NY state and NY city government. Same with ten thousand other transportation projects in the early 20th century. Stossel conveniently doesn't mention any of this. Anytime someone tells you something is black and white....look for the grey.
@Daniel Treadwell Sorry but I'm correct and it's easy to check and learn about. Stossel's one-side stories make for a ideologically satisfying, button-pushing watch, but they aren't anywhere close to the complexities of the actual truth.
I just read an article today about the planned BART extension to San Jose, CA. This extension will be 20 extra miles of rail, but it was originally planned to complete in 2014. It is now estimated to complete around 2030. I kid you not. Such incredible incompetence could only be tolerated by us Californians.
Because Transport for London has invested in them. They were taken over by the government before WW2, so government building has nothing to do with it. No private companies have build public transit in europe, north america, or even asia recently.
@@jacktattersall9457 So since the government took the tube business from the men who created it, they now get £3.4bn a year of taxpayer money in grants (from tfl.gov.uk). The network used to be privately managed, cheap, reliable, efficient, and it would produce value and generate taxes for us. Now, we have to bail out TfL every year to the tune of £3.4bn a year because government bureaucrats are not good at running private businesses. Is this a better situation? And since the government can't even operate within the limits of their tax income, they borrow against the pound, sending up inflation, which is an invisible tax on the value of the money you own and earn. If the government were in control of the Sahara, there would be a shortage of sand.
Im from that little mountain town of Tehachapi. An every year because of the new government it's looking more and more like progressive South Park. A Wal-Mart is being built this year.
Where I live the roads are pothole strewn but the city funded replacing 1/2 mile of fine bike path with a bike path. Every month the completion date gets pushed back 2 months. Days go by with nobody working. Where I once lived a large shopping center was put in. Raw land to stores opening was 90 days. Public projects vs. private projects.
I’m really interested to see the differences between transit and Japan and the US and why bullet trains are so ridiculously successful and more useful in Japan. From the little I’ve read so far, it looks like geographic size and density are big reasons it wouldn’t make sense in the US.
As a frequent Amtrak commuter, i can safely say that Amtrak trains aren't packed. I take the Hiawatha service between Chicago and Milwaukee frequently, and only like 20% of the train is full when I use it
It’s so sad in many European country’s have their transport at the best that they can be and that they get you everywhere but America still has inefficient bad transport
Ken MacDonald To enter Boston there is only a few ways to enter with a bus or train and they go every 4 hours or around that and so most people need to suffer through driving in and that causes terrible traffic jams so it’s not the worst but America needs to try harder
Why are we forced at gunpoint to pay for the vanity projects of politicians? If politicians want something, they should have to pay for it with their own money, just like the rest of us have to!
I have a question. Stossel said that the subway had competition. I‘m not exactly sure how that was the case. After all there weren’t 2 identical train lines next to one another
All of America's passenger railroads from the 1850's to the 1950's were all private. PRR, Erie, AT&SF, Union Pacific, etc and they provided much higher and reliable service (were actually on time or earlier) than that garbage we have today called Amtrak.
Trains are also really ineffective in any place that has mountains, as trains have trouble going up a slope at 2.5%. That means you have to bore through mountains, or go really far out to go up a very shallow slope
(1:08) Another $100 b-b-billion? Okay, let's get this into perspective. Israel built the Sorek Desalination Plant for $500 million and it produces ONE BILLION GALLONS OF WATER EVERY WEEK. So, for that extra $100 billion, California could build 200 of these plants, and produce 600 gallons of fresh water for every person in the state -- and we are only talking about NEW water source, not the water they already have. Spend that "extra" $100 billion of water, and suddenly every citizen (and illegal) and every farmer would have plenty of water and they could allow the upper river states like Colorado take more.
My city spent millions on a new trolley rail system, that followed the same route of the busses but only around the metropolitan area. Busses are cheaper to ride and they go to residential areas so the new trolley system is at a loss of profit. They are now spending more money to expand the rail, but to more metropolitan areas the busses have access to...
MTA bus drivers are so rude. Makes me think they don't even have training to provide good customer service, they don't even look at you because their busy thinking about something else while they wait for everyone to board. I was boarding a Q58 in Queens, and I had a free transfer receipt from riding the subway, and I was asking for another transfer, and the driver just said "Keep it", since it was knew to riding the MTA bus, I didn't know what that meant, because last time the bus driver just gave it to me immediately, so I get the impression that your experience just depends on which driver you're dealing with. That's why I say customer service isn't consistent with the MTA, like they hired a bunch of rude people by mistake and aren't doing anything. For people who get good pensions, pay grade, and benefits, don't act like it. I don't like their attitude, but I have no choice, they're the monopoly. I work in retail in the private sector, if the customer doesn't like our services when they ask for assistance, they don't come back and associate their bad experience to the entire brand. When I have to deal with a customer, and they ask me a lot of things, as an employee of the company, I have to be the face of good customer service, I have to smile and answer their questions facing towards them with eye contact. The MTA bus driver that I was dealing with, he was talking looking at the window on his left while I was on his right trying to figure out why he won't give me the free single-ride ticket, just told me in monotone "Keep it" while he stares outside while he rubs his fingers on his lips as if he's some sort of gatekeeper that makes all the rules. I know this sounds trivial, but I just find that rude, like as if I wasn't worth his time.
Gotta love that Joey 🦘😅. He loves his rail. It's like... 2 hours from Wilmington to DC? He shoulda started by crunching that down to 30min after 30 years of commuting between the two. BUT... He wanted the glory, not a completed project 🤷
@@amercedes1892 Unfortunately its not the most effective, that is, without using uvc. UVC generates Ozone and destroys DNA (Sunburn, but for virus/any organic organism) - Ozone is great for disinfecting, but at 4 times more oxidizing than bleach, its not a good idea to breath. You can use Carbon filters to eliminate ozone, but again, they are heavy and add complexity. Carbon filter does a great job removing viruses anyhow. UVB and UVA and not as practical for disinfection purposes (Not enough to generate ozone, destroy dna)
How many sport stadiums have been built, since we knew our bridges are crumbling? High speed rail, will have the same effect, (Ref: China) that the railroad did for the 19th century. But it's no longer affordable here. Hilarious!
The Vacuum Chamber of death will never be built. Too expensive to build and operate. Expansion and contraction issues will make maintaining a seal impossible. Claustrophobic. No way to evacuate. A terrorists Dream Target.
Trains only work in very specific areas and demographihc areas. They need to fit beyond the resonable car trip distance but not long enoug hthat planes become more competitive.
What about the transportation of goods. Trains move those about the nation more efficiently than semi's when talking about weight moved per dollar spent. The moving of people is a secondary added bonus.
The California train debacle was a prime example of government corruption and inefficacy, but the government is still capable of providing infrastructure for its people. Most Americans seem to be unaware of how many foreigners are just glad that our roads work and reach everyone
While I think John’s findings are true, I think it’s more important that trains be brought in when it’s appropriate (certain cities in certain areas). When it’s built well, ridership is very high, and it will help eliminate some modern traffic issues, lower emissions and make the areas around their stations more profitable.
Running big, heavy trains for 1/3rd occupancy is an environmental disaster no way that unsubsidized businesses would do that! So subsidies are an environmental nightmare.
Ever road the subway for free, me either? I use to ride Metro but now it's much too expensive and dangerous. We were told a ticket would cost a dollar, throughout the system. What a load of hooey.
I watched another video, documenting the joy of taking Amtrak... The entire video I was thinking, this is what my tax money is being blown on? .... people....
He is extremely good at making government get under my skin.
I know his conversational tone of disbelief is so realistic too
he's a libertarian thats what they do
just an idealist, its almost the same as any socialist party in terms of getting things done
He's the most consistent political commentator I've ever seen
@@synecdoche8783 only idealist because the likelihood of our government going libertarian is extremely low
@Phoenix so true, any time some region (ex. Hongkong, Emirates) goes free market their economy skyrockets and the opposite happens when the government grows too big.
Politicians love to spend other people's money
Fred Rogers They love to skim, but so does private industry. Let the government steal from you or let private industry steal from shareholders?
Shareholders can wise up and drop their stocks, you can't stop paying taxes.
Exactly, no business can force you to buy their products.
Home Wall of course not just look at the health insurance, energy, pharmaceutical. Companies will bribe politicians for contracts. Stop that or there will be no difference.
And spend it badly
"Hey bro what you do with that girl from the club last night?"
5:10
LMAO
Your humour is sick.
I like it!
Snif. Snif. Snif. And snif.
guess whos POTUS
lmaooo, why does he look so different now than before
Amazing that there are so few subscribers to this channel. Great content. Thank you for taking the time to download the videos.
Peace
Stossel doesn't report fairly.
littlegoatgt and why do you say that?
@@littlegoatgt c'mon it doesn't take 2 months 2 answer
apparently it takes 3 months to answer haha
Watch his reporting long enough and you will see what I mean. Always keep in mind it is for the purpose to persuade you. Note how in this video for example, he dismisses trains as just romantic, avoiding the issue of traffic congestion (we can’t build freeways endlessly). We get that his beef is with historically gov’t doing things more expensive than private, but mass transit never should have been shelved in the first place. It’s like playing catch up and the whole thing really is a big mess.
Its 2018, I have a feeling that the construction is still not complete.
i googled it and i can't find any info on such a subway line
@@JackReacheround It's the Second Avenue Subway Line
Maniac tyler I’m from 2019 they just cancelled it.
2019 Not only is it not finished, but they are now talking about closing the L train do to budget constraints as the city is nearing bankruptcy.
I thought you typed, "Its 2018, I have a feeling that the constitution is still not complete."
Which also sounds about right. Need a clause in there that caps the tax rate and says what it should be used for.
You find very quickly the value of something when it's paid for voluntarily.
I love you John Stossel, "Politicians have different incentives, like sucking up to other politicians. Government workers have time to stand around." Hahahahahahahah.
A 125 mile route from Phoenix to Tucson, Arizona is about $15 through greyhound. That's cheap! Why would I want a $100 train ride?
GlobalGaming101 Have you ever ridden a Greyhound?
Bc the train would get there in less than an hour
Ray Pittman its not worth the money. Thats why no one rides trains anymore. Its cheaper to take a plane on average amd planes are faster
@@pimpnamedslickback7780 depending on the train. I live in Sacramento and travel to San Francisco often. One way ticket to San Francisco using Megabus costs $10-25 depending on time of day, I go in the morning so I always pay $10. The trip takes 2 hours.
If I was to take Amtrak I would pay $45 and the trip will take...2 hours
Megabus has chargers, WiFi, soft seats, luggage space, and you can pay extra for a seat with a table.
Plus in the less busy times, like 6am Sac -> SF and 9pm SF -> Sac the Megabus tickets are under $5. Once it was $1! So if I stay late in San Francisco I can go back for really cheap :)
Kandi Klover They will never enjoy the sound and feel of a v12 that no one will ever needs,
But you drive one because you just can.
This is why the private rail line in Florida (Brightline) is so interesting. There's also one planned in Texas.
I am in WPB, and will probably never take Brightline. Too expensive, have to drive to the train and take a shuttle or taxi once to my destination. It also has to stop to pick up and drop off passengers and drive slow through most of the towns. Floridians repeatedly voted "NO" for the high speed trains, and miraculously it is being built. I heard, and did not fact check it, but it was really put in to get more freight trains through due to the traffic problems we now have. (thanks to our wonderful state and local people in charge, allowing more and more mass building with no thought to the traffic) Not trying to argue, just my thoughts on Brightline.
That train is a joke and the track it rides on is a monstrosity.
@@SnookOnTheFly they just opened a new stretch to Orlando, it’s far from monstrous
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAND the rail is canceled from the original plan wasting billions of tax payers dollars.
OMG, IT’S ETHAN KLEIN!!!
Checkout brightline it’s rail road company done right in Florida.
@@bonda_racing3579 Private sector wins again it seems
So your telling me people have to pay taxes to pay for a fast train that nobody is going to use... noice
People will use it of course. Just not nearly enough to make it profitable, anything but a money pit for ever growing amounts of taxes.
@Constitutional Conservative *your
You're*
@planningperson laidbackdeep I would disagree. I've been to Europe. Planes are much better than trains. And honestly, trains are a ton more expensive. Maybe you missed it, but in Greece, they found that it would have been cheaper to hire an individual taxi for each passenger on the train, than running the train system. It's part of why Greece went broke, and crashed. The price of train ticket may not be much different than that of a plane, but that's only because the government is taking your income in taxes, to pay money to keep the ticket prices low. Do you want to have 50% taxes in the US? I don't. Sorry.
@@nickdorsey2460 My gosh the ignorants on here. I ask them how long have they actually gone though life using "your" instead of "you're". The next most common is "there, their and they're" followed by "breaks, brakes".
The problem isn’t spending more, but getting value for what we spend. I already pay $185 in registration fees for my car, $400 per year in personal property taxes on my car. Plus sales tax, federal and state gas taxes, fees on travel. No to mention Federal income taxes of 33% and state taxes of 7% and real estate property taxes of $10,000. And about $100 month in tolls, and special taxes on parking, hotels. etc.
Enough is enough. In my state the gas taxes are seen as a kitty to allocate to other budget line items.
P Pumpkin Tolls on roads and bridges that have already paid for themselves, as well.
I just gotta ask: where the hell do you live? I pay $200 a year to have 4 vehicles on the road, and I dont have 'vehicle property tax'. Ive never heard of such a thing.
@@LrulestheworldM8 commercial vehicles get charged property taxes for different states regardless of where it's from. Alabama if I'm not mistaken is one of them with such a charge.
@@LrulestheworldM8 Here In Iowa, I have 3 autos, one I pay a registration fees of about 650 for my Truck for at least 10 years, the wife's car is about 150 dollars, and the older SUV for the boys is still 400 and will be for another 7 years. Some states Like VA also charge a tax on personal property, just like what is charged for house/land property taxes. I also pay about 10 grand per year for the house and it is only about 200,000 in value.
LRulesTheWorld yeah we, in Virginia, have to pay a personal property tax on our automobile even though we paid a tax on the same automobile on the day of purchase. The nicer the vehicle the more you pay until you sell it
We used to have an extensive national private rail network and many local streetcar systems... until the government started heavily subsidizing car infrastructure.
Funny how these bureaucrats sound like the bureaucrats in Atlas Shrugged. Lol. The end is near. Lol.
Pip Santos
Go on Google Street view and look around Charleston, WV. Mostly closed shops and unoccupied buildings. Just like the first chapter.
I believe in his past life he was a comedian.
Cuz his delivery on serious matters is bonkers.
Keep it up
In Seattle, we voted on a Sound Transit #3 for trains that nobody wants, and most of the money being taxed is used to pay off the overruns from Sound Transit #2. If only we had free market solutions for transit...
Home Wall 54 percent of voters said yes to the proposal, so no you are wrong in that regard
Vote Republican and maybe you will get sound change.get out of the beehive you drone.
Everytime I've been on a sounder train it's been packed. People here enjoy the trains commuting between Lakewood and Seattle.
If only, but they keep regulating them out of existence.
3:47 In case you're wondering 10 cents in 1940 (when the city took over the subway system) was $1.71 in 2016 money
Google says back in 1940 the price of a ticket was 5 cents. 10 cents it became in 1948.
I get headache when I see why I am paying taxes. Where and how they spend my hard earned money.
I decided to put John Stossel to the test and see how much it would cost via Amtrak or Grayhound. So I picked a city and picked a day and here's what I found:
The bus was slower, BUT it was cheaper by nearly $20. First, I had to take a bus to ANOTHER STATE so I can even reach the Amtrak train on the day I wanted it. The bus also had three transfers at its own stations. Amtrak? Well, there was at least one transfer where I had to arrange my own ride to get to my next connection. This is why no one uses Amtrak.
$2.75 on the subway now, it went up again.
That’s just inflation if the US dollar. They have to raise prices to be able to keep up. Sadly, federal reserve notes are not a reliably stable currency because our government keeps printing trillions for stupidity. This is why Bitcoin and gold are going up. When I grow up I will definitely invest in gold, silver and maybe even Bitcoin!
Busses still run on public roads as far as I know. Factor in the cost of those roads before you conclude that trains are worse. The future of America is crumbling roads.
Crumbling roads are thanks to government overregulation. Any sane person would want to use as little asphalt/concrete as possible to get people from A to B. However, DC isn't sane. Narrow roads and less stupid parking legislation will make people switch to smaller and lighter vehicles which will make the infrastructure degrading slower which means there are more resources to maintain the road network better.
@@hendrikdependrik1891 The funny thing about corruption is that it isn't caused by the people taking the bribes. It is caused by the people offering the bribes. If you think the government is dysfunctional remember that the business people getting all of the bloated unsupervised contracts and using the profits to bribe through the next political cycle.
I live in Austria,
Everybody goes by train here, very few travel by car. It's much more pleasant and cheaper. It was all build by the government.
Fuck the eu
Well, Austria and Switzerland heavily promote the train. Trains make sense in the mountains. Tunneling for car/truck traffic is quite expensive. Also, cars are slow and dangerous on mountainous roads. The Alps also want to be clean and green. However, when it's less mountainous, public transit in whatever form always seem to fail compared to cars and even the bicycle.
Austria is a much smaller country in terms of land mass and population, also America has extreme terrain differentials. I don’t think comparing Austria to America makes sense.
@@Canis_dirus300 Austria is one of the least densely populated countries in Europe. There are also vast differences between it's mountainous west and swampy east, we even have some steppe. If you want to travel between urban centers a train always makes more sense than a bus. It is just so much more energy-effecient (nearly no friction). The US has more than enough resources to have a world-class train network.
If we consider both rail infrastructure and highways as public goods, then why should rail have to turn a profit but highways don’t for some reason?
Conditioning, convenience, familiarity, and freedom of movement of getting goods and services to shipped to your doorstep, whereas trains that can haul more goods overall only go to specified locations.
"Buses get no subsidy?" Who builds and maintain the roads they run on? Who builds, maintains, and operates airports? (And if you think either one pays enough user fees or taxes to cover the costs, you'd better take a course in economics.)
Railroads were built by the private sector, roads were built by the public sector. But shh, don’t tell Republicans that
I grew up in the US. Can't get anywhere without a car. Road trips are fun. Flexibility is nice.
But it's pretty shitty on a day to day basis: gas is expensive and rush hour has turned into an almost ALL day affair in many major cities.
I have been around the world at this point. It is like night and day being in countries with walkable neighborhoods. It's super convenient getting around without a car because a combination of high speed rail, light rail, and buses has you covered. We don't have infrastructure like this in the US but we could have.
Investing in mass transit gives a huge return in increased economic activity. People can get around for work or play more easily, and they spend/generate money when doing so.
So, to define mass transit as only buses is weird. Defining trains as rural boondoggles is weird to anyone who's been to Europe.
This whole US conversation about mass transit is insane.
That government employee thinks private companies don't profit from responding to people's demands 😂
Wait, they waited so long we do need the uv lights again lol.
aquatrax123 lol came here for this
The private sector is vastly superior in every way!
Bridges to nowhere. Taxation is theft but the waste of our loot adds insult to injury.
Render unto Caesar...
I love Stossel. I followed his reporting ever since he did the flood damaged cars in Kansas City that was back when I was in college that, was in the 80s. See consistently always has good stuff from a different viewpoint always refreshing always good communication. I wish him nothing more than the best of health and many years to come.
New York to DC never cost $150 except on Acela. Regular Amtrak is like $49 tops
You mean the limited amount of fare saver tickets you have to buy months in advance? Those are $80 now. Try going during any sort of holiday and watch the price triple.
@@pkal244 It shows those prices on the website, but there are ways around those inflated prices.
But what's the actual cost? Probably much more.
As always you have got it right again John. Keep up the good work!!!
In the 1970s the Penn Central transportation company was responsible for the mass transit system. However the whole Penn Central was a mess and commuter rail was no exception so instead of reinvest and make it nice they used old beat up and broken down cars and locomotives and went into bankruptcy in 1971. When Conrail took over their still was no money in the commuter rail and they were bleeding cash like mad so the government took over instead to fix up the line. For anyone curious their is a book the men who loved trains which covered it really well.
"Not at this time...". Got to love that look when he admitted the trains have no private investors.
and now the train project has been cancelled.
Elon Musk should build the Hyperloop there instead. He could definitley make money from it.
Why are trains being scapegoated here and not megagighways??
Well, rail technically is the most efficient form of transportation. I visited Japan a month ago and the Tokyo subway system is a wonder, I honestly hate driving after experiencing it. However to all the Liberals, the subway system in Tokyo and the Shinkansen High Speed rail going between cities is all privately built and run :)
@Marc T never more than 5 minutes late? Are you insane!? They are never more than 30 seconds late!
How much was it for you to ride in Japan? I can't remember what I paid but I know it was quick!
@@McBike770 Japanese aren't honorable in business lol. Try doing business there.
Efficiency isn't absolute. Rail is energy efficient to operate. That doesn't consider construction and useful lifetime of the route.
yea because they live a condensed population so its worth it... in the US we are so spread out
Having spent 12.5yrs in the military and now living in Milwaukee with eyes to really see the world; it amazes me of how ridiculous California is with money and nothing to show for any of it other than "nice houses".
If high speed rail was profitable, private industry would have been doing it for years.
They have been, Look at Japan, private high speed rail turns a multi billion dollar profit. This guy is spreading lies that the auto industry told us when they ripped up the streetcars.
@@maxleonard5723 japan is much more densely populated, so you can't compare it
@@maxleonard5723 if your 90% of population lives densly on coastlines then sure it will make profit. US tho? Venice has gondols lets build them in Houston!!
"If high speed rail was profitable" - What if the gov is the reason it's not?
@@thomasawdffaw123 No it's because the rail line owns land around the rail road.
Buses do get big subsidies. Or do they build their own roads?
Nope they use the roads already in existence = no subsidies
@@user-jc2ez6ig5z The roads magically appeared and are maintained by pixies, no doubt.
@@larrybrennan1463 They pay taxes and thus help other roads be built. It pays back dont worry.
@@eustacebagge3869 If you think the taxes paid by bus companies and trucking companies comes even close to covering the maintenance cost of the streets, roads, and highways they use, much less building them, then you had better do some research on what things cost, and who pays for them.
@@larrybrennan1463 true, when the gov does it its quite expensive, i can agree with that
Buses do get plenty of subsidies indirectly. Who do you think maintains the roads that they buses run on?
Convenient that Bidden is the closing speaker huh. 4 years later and he’s ready to toss us into ruins.
3 years later and they have given up on the high speed rail scam and are just running away with the money.
The fact that NYC subway was originally private blew my mind. Thank you.
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha... it is so funny to watch this guy saying this things today. Thank you for that late joke!
Why don't they make trains that cars and buses can be transported on?
Inniman!: They have one. It's called the Auto Train. It runs p2p from the Washington D.C. area to the Orlando area. It is a passenger train with auto racks as well so you can take that train and bring your car with you. It is Amtrak's most lucrative service, why it isn't more common is a mystery to me.
Inniman! Because the government gave us cheap roads! Had we not spent trillions on a federal highway system, the private railroads likely would have autotrains crisscrossing the country right now.
The east coast is pretty much the only place where the Auto Train format would work right now, though I think they could make money by adding a terminal closer to New York. It's the Seinfeld express.
A teacher at my school gave me the example of the how it takes 6 people to dig a hole and how it's just one guy digging a hole with 5 other guys staring down the hole and then they sit around and that'll be all they do for the day 😂.
Thats Government work for ya
Good job john been watching u from when u did world news tonite.
I'm just glad this kind of thing isn't exclusive to my country Argentina, where populism is so widespread. We need to turn people away of their confidence on the government.
Amazing clip of the great leader at the end! 😂
$2.75 now! And the $0.25 fare hike was only a few years after the last one with the previous hike only a few years before that!
For the Amtrak argument, I feel they should shut down routes with low demand (lot of the historical routes) and get track rights alongside cargo trains company.
Si, great content as always!
Aww :( i guess that is the first tume i disagree with you Herr Stossel.
In switzerland and japan the railroad brings people faster and saver to almost any point of the country for a moderate price.
The example for Amtrsks seats being only filled for about 30%, can apply to California. But also in switzerland you got trains filled only for 20% when you dont use the rushhour trains.
But as a conductor i might be biased.
its a whole different system, the American Amtrack costs about as much as a plane ticket to the destination you wanted to get to!! While the bus lands at about 1/5th of that or less, it just isnt worth it for both the train companies and the people to go around in trains anymore since there are options and competitions from all parts of the travel industry that try to break a profit etc so it just isnt worth it outside larger cities such as NewYork to have railroads used for human transports. The seats are filled to about 30% (which is crazy high considering the options) on averege from bigger cities and even less in places where its less dense.
Japan usually have their trains filled 200% during rushhours and 80-160% when its not peak, one of many reasons its so cheap people actually use it cause there is a need for it! Economics 101 if there is a need it will be filled and trains in the US is more or less not needed at this time (for human transports ofc).
You may be biased as much or as little as you want. The problem is, it is a stupid system where the right hand is not aware of the actions of the left hand.
1)You have cars on public roads. They pay a gas tax, but that is not a road tax. It is used to fix the budget. Still, the expenses and incomes should be so-so.
2)Then you have trucks on subsidized public roads and they pay at best 1/10 of wear and tear they cause. So it is subsidized by the government. Hundreds of billions of Euros per year. I would not be surprised had this trucking industry subsidy formed the majority of budget deficits. if not all. It is at least 200 billion USD per year in the USA.
3)You have passenger trains on subsidized rail, that does not make money because people use public roads. And therefore subsidized by the government. It used to work in times of huge factories with 5000 of workers on the mainline. It no longer does, because the government will gladly bill the infrastructure(among other expenses) required for your brand new factory located in the middle of wheat fields. If roads are the only way to get there, I do not think ppl are going to use trains.
4)Then you have freight rail on the subsidized, passenger rail, that is not subsidized because obviously, it is a private endeavor. But it does not make much money, because it a) it uses passenger rail b) the trucking competition is subsidized by hundreds of billion of Euros. C) idiotic planing mentioned in the no 3.
Now, it does not matter if trains are used by 60% of people or by 6%. The problem is all those lorries pulverizing roads and causing budget deficits. Once you bill truckers their fair share of expenses, you solve the whole conundrum.
I live next to a Q Train stop. Every time I pass by I remember for how much of my childhood it was under construction.
The first subways in New York were public/private joint ventures. They would not have been done solely by private companies without the involvement, encouragement, and help of NY state and NY city government. Same with ten thousand other transportation projects in the early 20th century. Stossel conveniently doesn't mention any of this. Anytime someone tells you something is black and white....look for the grey.
@Daniel Treadwell Are you stupid? The first subway in Manhattan was a gov't promotional event for the ages!
He also talked about the 1938 cancellation of the 2nd ave line, not knowing it was still privately owned.
@Daniel Treadwell Sorry but I'm correct and it's easy to check and learn about. Stossel's one-side stories make for a ideologically satisfying, button-pushing watch, but they aren't anywhere close to the complexities of the actual truth.
Well seems like now the UV lights would be a great thing to have
I just read an article today about the planned BART extension to San Jose, CA. This extension will be 20 extra miles of rail, but it was originally planned to complete in 2014. It is now estimated to complete around 2030. I kid you not. Such incredible incompetence could only be tolerated by us Californians.
Most of London’s tube networks were also created by private industry, since 1860. They’re so damn good that they run incredibly well even today.
Because Transport for London has invested in them. They were taken over by the government before WW2, so government building has nothing to do with it. No private companies have build public transit in europe, north america, or even asia recently.
@@jacktattersall9457 So since the government took the tube business from the men who created it, they now get £3.4bn a year of taxpayer money in grants (from tfl.gov.uk). The network used to be privately managed, cheap, reliable, efficient, and it would produce value and generate taxes for us. Now, we have to bail out TfL every year to the tune of £3.4bn a year because government bureaucrats are not good at running private businesses.
Is this a better situation?
And since the government can't even operate within the limits of their tax income, they borrow against the pound, sending up inflation, which is an invisible tax on the value of the money you own and earn.
If the government were in control of the Sahara, there would be a shortage of sand.
Im from that little mountain town of Tehachapi. An every year because of the new government it's looking more and more like progressive South Park. A Wal-Mart is being built this year.
Where I live the roads are pothole strewn but the city funded replacing 1/2 mile of fine bike path with a bike path. Every month the completion date gets pushed back 2 months. Days go by with nobody working. Where I once lived a large shopping center was put in. Raw land to stores opening was 90 days. Public projects vs. private projects.
I’m really interested to see the differences between transit and Japan and the US and why bullet trains are so ridiculously successful and more useful in Japan.
From the little I’ve read so far, it looks like geographic size and density are big reasons it wouldn’t make sense in the US.
The only places it could geographic sense is the New York megalopolis and California, which is where the initiatives are proposed.
As a frequent Amtrak commuter, i can safely say that Amtrak trains aren't packed. I take the Hiawatha service between Chicago and Milwaukee frequently, and only like 20% of the train is full when I use it
Greyhound bus trips are the worst. Now riding the train. I love .
It’s so sad in many European country’s have their transport at the best that they can be and that they get you everywhere but America still has inefficient bad transport
Ken MacDonald To enter Boston there is only a few ways to enter with a bus or train and they go every 4 hours or around that and so most people need to suffer through driving in and that causes terrible traffic jams so it’s not the worst but America needs to try harder
Why are we forced at gunpoint to pay for the vanity projects of politicians? If politicians want something, they should have to pay for it with their own money, just like the rest of us have to!
We once had trains lines thag went from the west to the east....the transcontenatial railway......was that built by government?
I have a question. Stossel said that the subway had competition. I‘m not exactly sure how that was the case. After all there weren’t 2 identical train lines next to one another
Cars, bus, legs, bikes, motorbikes, boats, planes, helicopters, rickshaw.
Your videos should be required watching for all university students.
All of America's passenger railroads from the 1850's to the 1950's were all private. PRR, Erie, AT&SF, Union Pacific, etc and they provided much higher and reliable service (were actually on time or earlier) than that garbage we have today called Amtrak.
Is it possible to build over the existing roads? Can someone knowledgeable tell me why or why not ?
when Miami-Dade County was building the metrorail, they ran out of money so for the second part, they added bus lane.
Tokyo Metro does well yet it is private
Trains are also really ineffective in any place that has mountains, as trains have trouble going up a slope at 2.5%. That means you have to bore through mountains, or go really far out to go up a very shallow slope
4:30 fire em up boys
(1:08) Another $100 b-b-billion? Okay, let's get this into perspective. Israel built the Sorek Desalination Plant for $500 million and it produces ONE BILLION GALLONS OF WATER EVERY WEEK. So, for that extra $100 billion, California could build 200 of these plants, and produce 600 gallons of fresh water for every person in the state -- and we are only talking about NEW water source, not the water they already have. Spend that "extra" $100 billion of water, and suddenly every citizen (and illegal) and every farmer would have plenty of water and they could allow the upper river states like Colorado take more.
"We no longer need the UV lights"
Hello from 2021! Obviously, government was planning the whole time!!!!!
My city spent millions on a new trolley rail system, that followed the same route of the busses but only around the metropolitan area. Busses are cheaper to ride and they go to residential areas so the new trolley system is at a loss of profit. They are now spending more money to expand the rail, but to more metropolitan areas the busses have access to...
now the UV lights in the old trains would be useful again!
MTA bus drivers are so rude. Makes me think they don't even have training to provide good customer service, they don't even look at you because their busy thinking about something else while they wait for everyone to board. I was boarding a Q58 in Queens, and I had a free transfer receipt from riding the subway, and I was asking for another transfer, and the driver just said "Keep it", since it was knew to riding the MTA bus, I didn't know what that meant, because last time the bus driver just gave it to me immediately, so I get the impression that your experience just depends on which driver you're dealing with. That's why I say customer service isn't consistent with the MTA, like they hired a bunch of rude people by mistake and aren't doing anything. For people who get good pensions, pay grade, and benefits, don't act like it. I don't like their attitude, but I have no choice, they're the monopoly.
I work in retail in the private sector, if the customer doesn't like our services when they ask for assistance, they don't come back and associate their bad experience to the entire brand. When I have to deal with a customer, and they ask me a lot of things, as an employee of the company, I have to be the face of good customer service, I have to smile and answer their questions facing towards them with eye contact. The MTA bus driver that I was dealing with, he was talking looking at the window on his left while I was on his right trying to figure out why he won't give me the free single-ride ticket, just told me in monotone "Keep it" while he stares outside while he rubs his fingers on his lips as if he's some sort of gatekeeper that makes all the rules. I know this sounds trivial, but I just find that rude, like as if I wasn't worth his time.
It will be important one day, just don't forget that turd
Gotta love that Joey 🦘😅. He loves his rail. It's like... 2 hours from Wilmington to DC? He shoulda started by crunching that down to 30min after 30 years of commuting between the two. BUT... He wanted the glory, not a completed project 🤷
Lmao @ 4:30 - THIS did not age well. Great idea, hope they didnt get rid of them!
Why does ultraviolet light as a solution to bacteria or viruses just feel so shortsighted and simplistic... almost as if it isn’t so effective.
I *hunted* for this comment.
@@amercedes1892 Unfortunately its not the most effective, that is, without using uvc. UVC generates Ozone and destroys DNA (Sunburn, but for virus/any organic organism) - Ozone is great for disinfecting, but at 4 times more oxidizing than bleach, its not a good idea to breath. You can use Carbon filters to eliminate ozone, but again, they are heavy and add complexity. Carbon filter does a great job removing viruses anyhow. UVB and UVA and not as practical for disinfection purposes (Not enough to generate ozone, destroy dna)
How many sport stadiums have been built,
since we knew our bridges are crumbling?
High speed rail, will have the same effect,
(Ref: China)
that the railroad did for the 19th century.
But it's no longer affordable here.
Hilarious!
As a Californian this high speed train is a HUGE money pit, 84 billion and counting and still not even close to being done
Jokes on you, 3-years-ago Stossel! Now those train cars need UV lights to kill SARS! The bureaucrats were accidentally ahead of their time.
Ok, so if all rail infrastructure needs to be privately funded, shouldn’t we make all of the roads private too?
It is unsettling to me to see that this rail system is right in line with the destruction path of the wildfires that happened last year in 2018
Fucking hilarious. No longer need the UV lights to stop the spread of polio
Stossel what do you think of hyper loop competing for this train line
The Vacuum Chamber of death will never be built.
Too expensive to build and operate.
Expansion and contraction issues will make maintaining a seal impossible.
Claustrophobic. No way to evacuate. A terrorists Dream Target.
4:28 little did we know
I don't think it's effective against covid
Joe Biden says "It's rail rail rail rail"
Trains only work in very specific areas and demographihc areas. They need to fit beyond the resonable car trip distance but not long enoug hthat planes become more competitive.
What about the transportation of goods. Trains move those about the nation more efficiently than semi's when talking about weight moved per dollar spent. The moving of people is a secondary added bonus.
Would love to see a follow-up to this that interviews the boring company
The California train debacle was a prime example of government corruption and inefficacy, but the government is still capable of providing infrastructure for its people. Most Americans seem to be unaware of how many foreigners are just glad that our roads work and reach everyone
And... Now the California high speed rail is shut down. Lol
While I think John’s findings are true, I think it’s more important that trains be brought in when it’s appropriate (certain cities in certain areas). When it’s built well, ridership is very high, and it will help eliminate some modern traffic issues, lower emissions and make the areas around their stations more profitable.
Running big, heavy trains for 1/3rd occupancy is an environmental disaster no way that unsubsidized businesses would do that! So subsidies are an environmental nightmare.
Ever road the subway for free, me either? I use to ride Metro but now it's much too expensive and dangerous. We were told a ticket would cost a dollar, throughout the system. What a load of hooey.
I watched another video, documenting the joy of taking Amtrak... The entire video I was thinking, this is what my tax money is being blown on? .... people....