In 1932, General Motors, the manufacturer of buses and owner of the largest share of Greyhound, formed a consortium of tire, oil, and highway men to buy and shut down America’s streetcar systems. Attacking the trolley mile by mile, the syndicate of General Motors, Firestone, Standard Oil, and Mack Truck, allied as National City Lines, cajoled and bought off local officials. Paired with the ethos of the era, the motor advocates menaced the streetcar’s space and customers. Between 1932 and 1949, they would help persuade 100 electric systems in more than forty-five cities to scrap their street
...more
