After World War II, the streetcar industry took a nosedive from which it could not recover. Across the United States, streetcar lines that were slated for conversion to diesel-powered bus lines were torn literally from the pavement. Elected city officials who faced an exodus of factories to the suburbs - and the loss of a tax base to keep their cities going - chose to convert expensive streetcar lines to less expensive buses routes.
Dollars and Votes
Replacing a streetcar that had seen a significant amount of use during the war cost $40,000 (USD). But the cost of a new bus to run the same route was just $10,000. In the eyes of city residents who saw a declining tax base, an elected official who replaced streetcars with buses would be seen as a good financial steward. Moreover, the city leader who saved hard-earned tax dollars had a better chance at re-election.
Conspiracy Theory
But was there a conspiracy to put the streetcar lines out of business? Were the auto, tire, and automobile parts industries to blame? Some believe that there was.
General Motors created a new division called the National City Line (NCL) Company that, in many cities, bought out failing streetcar companies. NCL pulled up or paved over the streetcar rails and replaced the routes with GM and Mack buses, in order to force cities and private streetcar companies to buy them. This would, according to conspiracy theorists, create a larger market for the bus, tire, and automobile/bus parts industry.
One such streetcar company was the Pacific Electric Railway. It had some of the most visible and well-known streetcar lines in the streetcar industry. The dismantling of the Red Car lines of the Pacific Railroad Company of Los Angeles hit southern California especially hard. These lines were used by many locals along this historic and vastly visible trolley line. The dismantling of the Red Car lines created outrage and fueled the conspiracy theory.
Roger Rabbit Unframed 
Although many streetcar enthusiasts believe in a conspiracy, Dr. Christine Cosgrove dismisses their claims A professor from UC-Berkley who specializes in transportation, Dr. Cosgrove has studied the history of the streetcar conspiracy theory extensively. She concludes that there wasn't a good reason for GM and its alleged co-conspirators to want to drive the streetcar out of every city.
In the report "Roger Rabbit Unframed: Revisiting the GM Conspiracy Theory", Dr. Cosgrove outlined the reasons why the streetcar conspiracy theory should be dismissed. First, streetcar companies planted the seeds of their own destruction when they promoted movement to the suburbs. There, transportation by automobile was more convenient. The entry of married women into the workforce also encouraged the rise of the personal automobile, as busy mothers needed to commute to work and meet other responsibilities. Finally, although streetcar enthusiasts remember railways with great fondness, much of the traveling public saw these transit companies as greedy and unresponsive.
What Do You Think?
Contrary to the conspiracy theorists then, the automobile and bus companies were simply reacting to the demands of postwar Americans for cars, trucks, and buses. Automotive companies make easy targets, however, both because of their high visibility and history of squashing competitors for a profit.
But is it time to lay the streetcar conspiracy theory to rest once and for all then?
Editor's Note:
Part 15 of this multi-part series will run in two weeks.
Resources: Cosgrove, Christine. "Roger Rabbit Unframed: Revisiting the GM Conspiracy Theory." Review Online (Winter 2004-Spring 2005)
Photo Credits: UVM Special Collections, Baily-Howe Library and ecofriend.com
Previous Blog Entries in This Series
The American Streetcar (Part 1)
From Stagecoach to Streetcar (Part 2)
From Horse-Drawn Streetcars to Cable Cars (Part 3)
The Birth of the Electric Streetcar (Part 4)
Electric Streetcars and Trolley Technology (Part 5)
Electric Streetcars: Private Lines and Public Roads (Part 6)
The Rise of the Electric Streetcar (Part 7)
Electric Streetcars and the Industrial Revolution (Part 8)
General Electric and the Schenectady Streetcar (Part 9)
Streetcar Suburbs and Interurban Trolleys (Part 10)
Electric Amusement: The Trolley and Leisure (Part 11)
The Streetcar Turns a Corner (Part 12)
Electric Streetcars: The PCC and Wartime Mobility (Part 13)
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