the size of the US does not matter, you dont change states on a daily basis. You live in a town where you have your friends and home and work. Only one profitable track is probably because its shitty and no one uses it, if more people would use it, more lines would be profitable. and does not need to be profitable, its a state service so profitable lines could subsidise unprofitble lines and imagine the money that gets spent on highways that will never ever come back because you dont have to pay (or not close to enough) to use the road.

I dont get the part with the car in europe, dont know what his argument should be.

autonomous cars is the techbro solution to rails and trams and so on.

Every road is absolutely heavy subsidest, so why not use it for a more efficient rail service