Added: 3 years ago
From: rideACT
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  • October 5, 2000 was a Thursday, not a Monday. First sign not to trust these people!

  • This is really a shame, rail is the most efficient way to transport heavy loads. It would take a lot of money and work to change back to rail, I doubt there is any political will for such a disruptive, expensive, and time-consuming change.

  • I havnt been to L.A. in a while,but when I was last there,good fuckin Lord ,it looks like your driving around in Mexico...I dont know what it is,but why dont you people use the gas pedal once in a while..you have to be the worst drivers by far on earth...Just when I thought I couldnt get behind another 1987 puke green sun faded AstroVan with duct tape for brake lights,and three spare tires,crammed full of 17 people ,in the fast lane mind you...doing 43m.p.h. in a 65m.p.h.....fuck!!!

  • And we bailed these bastards out, yet not one right winger wants to upgrade the existing rail systems or build transit systems.

    As long as Obama's for it, they're against it.

  • @NeuroManson ...Obama is a "War Monger" and a POS "CorpoRat Puppet"!!!

  • its hard to say it, but car industry rulez...

  • Does anyone know the name of that ragtime music at 3:50? Thanks.

  • Comment removed

  • 1 person is CEO of GM

  • The crowning blow for US transit and intercity passenger rail was their heroic support of the free world during WWII. Carrying passengers and freight far in excess of pre-12-7-41 War Materiel Board estimates, they wore themselves out. Instead of gratitute and help in rebuilding and upgrading following the war, they got new competition -- debt-financed and perpetually debt-producing Interstate Hiways. As Will Rogers predicted, the nation then "drove off to the poorhouse in automobiles..."

  • For those who loved this video I would suggest a great bit of follow up. Check out the Wikipedia article "The Great American Streetcar Scandal". It has a link to an article by Chris Slater which appeared in Transportation Quarterly. In talking about this very video he said:

    "All this caught the imagination of the press and the public. That it was utter

    nonsense would take careful explaining and even then the analytical rebuttal

    would never make the headlines the way the original charges did."

  • You can watch the entire documentary in one shot on Google Video.

    I have to say that I found this film absolutely infuriating. I am a big supported of public transit, especially for commuting.

    I was amazed to find out that the destruction of the tram in LA went ahead despite the fact that 88% of the population wanted to keep it. An unfathomable corruption of democracy by a few greedy men.

  • The streets of L.A. are a nightmare and will only get worse. I cannot even imagine what the streets will look like in the future. The city will be further abandoned for an unsustainable suburban life. I wish gasoline would go up to $200 a barrell so the American people can finally get out of their cars and back into the streetcar. I live near the Pacific Electric Rail in Cucamonga. It is now a new bike path that congests traffic as much as a streetcar would. 60 cars idle while one person jogs by

  • I rented this video from the library in Sonoma county. All they had was VHS so I got out my old VCR and played it. I liked it so much I wanted to rent it from Netflix but they don't even have it. I think it is about a half an hour long. The only place I was able to find it entirely was doing a websearch they have it on line for purchase.

  • Although GM, Mack Truck, Standard Oil, Phillips 66 & Firestone were all found guilty of criminal conspiracy by the U. S. Department of Transportation for attempting to destroy city mass transportation across the country, I would like to remind everyone watching this video of a VERY important fact:

    2 or more POOR people scheming to steal a $1.29 loaf of bread is a "CONSPIRACY". 2 or more RICH people scheming to steal 8.6 trillion dollars is an "AGENDA".

    The wealthy do NOT "conspire"...EVER!

  • Does that matter? Whether it is conspiracy or agenda, USA still has one of the most backward public transportation system in the world (smile).

  • If you think it doesn't "matter", you are part of the problem.

  • (I am part of the problem)Right, even though I only drive 20 miles every two weeks, take the bus to subway, ride bikes to Post Office and library.

  • @merakhagen Well not all of it, now I don't live in US but doesn't NY have a good transit system? I mean it's subway runs 24/7 along with the buses and the other rail companies. Besides ,more than half the people don't own cars. Dough it's a shame that US made very many improvement's to the tram and they wore the ones taking it out of service premature.

  • @t4705mb6 Correction: GM et al were found guilty of conspiring to force the bus lines they owned to buy their products. They were NOT found guilty of conspiracy to destroy transit lines. That is a false statement that has been perpetuated by those who don't check their facts or don't want the facts to get in the way of the story they are telling (Snell would be one).

    This PBS show was heavily criticized and largely debunked by many public transit and rail road advocates.

  • Comment removed

  • Thank you for posting this video. I have started embedding it into Peak Oil sites.

  • I remeber that cartoon, everyone thought the future is so far away, how easily fooled, people were in those days, thank god for the revolution.

  • My kind of guy, a researcher, to take you on a ride.

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