For the next 30 minutes, we investigate. Its asking tough questions, uncovering government waste and holding those in power accountable. We begin with the safety of public transportation. In the south bay, its a popular choice for commuters and a new choice in getting to levis stadium. Tonight, questions about the literail system paid by taxpayers and run by the valley transportation authority. We dug into inspection records and uncovered safety returns. Vicky nguyen found faulty wheels, potential for headon collisions and other issues that records show the vta has been slow to fix. Reporter vta trains travel at a top speed of 55 miles an hour, carrying 34,000 riders a day. And sharing the roads with thousands of cars. A vta insider with knowledge of how these trains are maintained and operated asked to be disguised for fear of being fired. Is safety a priority at vta . Only when they get caught by the state or federal government is it then a priority. Reporter the Investigative Unit o
Website with inspection information. Its a direct result of reports by nbc bay area and the center for investigative reporting. Stephen stock has our results. Is there any way we can see the licensed inspection information. Our investigation shed light on and ispection and safety verification system in california that had kept parents in the dark for years. Our investigation also uncovered little state oversight of daycares or the availability of simple Safety Inspection information on daycares for parents. So you dont have anything that we can like look at . No. The department of social Services Oversees nearly 4,000 daycares in california where 1. 1 million children go every day. We were wondering if you have your licensing inspection with that . We dont have that. So i have nothing to prove. Last year, state officials admitted the Current System of overseeing daycares was underfunded and anty equated. This was horrifying. Parents like denise ross demand action after our reporting if
We look at whether uber took advantage of its riders. Youre watching a special edition of reality check. Good evening. Thank you for joining us. Im sam broke. We use Data Research and expert analysis to separate the truth from the bunk. Lets begin this evening with a pocketbook issue that is impact impactingimpact ing virtually all americans, which is gas prices. Gas prices have been plummeting for months, but the oil industry is warning california drivers not to get too comfortable. They say prices are going to soar in 2015 because of a new law. California drivers are accustomed to high prices at the gas pump, but the oil lobby is sounding the alarm claiming they could skyrocket in 2015. Is this true . This is very much an extreme and very unlikely scenario of the gas prices would go up anywhere near that much. Reporter he is an Energy Policy expert at Stanford University who believes gas prices will go up modestly in 2015 thanks to californias landmark cap and trade program. You see
A new school in San Francisco is promising just that. We first told you about minerva a year ago. The founding class of freshman is now enrolled. Reporter he is a 17yearold College Student from san diego who is debating his college classmates online. When he applied to college, he got into ucla, uc berkley, and nyu, but he chose minerva. I wanted to cocreate my experience. Its something im not going to find anywhere else. Reporter it is unique in many ways. Theres no campus. Most of the students in the first class come from overseas. The courses they took are entirely online. Most people would think this is really difficult to do, to be accustomed to having classes online. Im really engaged. Reporter in their second year, theyll move to a different city every semester. After that, the plan is to go to hong kong and mumbai. To understand the worlds biggest problems, we need to live in different cities and see the different problems people have and how they try to solve them. What we hav
Tonight. Thats because no one has ever heard of anything similar happening before. Its a story about the gift of life Organ Donation and how two families gathered last month to celebrate that gift just like they have for a decade but with one big twist this time. Lets take a look and see what they look like. Reporter every year for the past ten years Gary Mckinnon and his wife janice have opened up their home and barn for an evergrowing Holiday Gathering and tree lighting. That first year, about 15 people game came. Then there were 40. Tonight there was near 200. Reporter no matter how big this party gets some guests are always going to be more special than others. Bill and his wife tish and the rest of their clan. Thats because this whole celebration began a decade ago as a way for the mckinnons to thank them, or at least try to. Those words dont apply and theres not a word that does apply. Even to this day, they dont know what they have done for us. Reporter in 2004 their son caleb d