Los Angeles Streetcars - The Final Years

There are a lot of misinformed people here. A little bit of researching would reveal that GM didn't kill the street car. There was no evil plot. Street cars died a natural death in most places because they weren't as cost effective as buses and cars. It was natural causes but it's easier to blame GM and perpetuate a good myth than actually look at the facts.

Yet today there is absolutely no doubt that cars are the most expensive and inefficient forms of mass transit. A car isn't mass transit you say? A 4 lane road in each direction with thousands of cars per day is most certainly a mass transit corridor. The private car is the most space inefficient form of transit that exists today (on land) and is only sensible in rural areas.

GM was accused of killing streetcars to improve bus sales. The numbers at the time support that bus took over, without GM's help, because they were a more cost effective. That doesn't mean they are more cost effective today (though I suspect they still are). You can't blame GM (and the other bus sellers) for selling a product that at the time made more sense than streetcars. I would suggest those that disagree with me read General Motor and the Decline of the Streetcar by Cliff Slater

The above comment should not be taken as "cars are the answer". Cars, at least today's cars, are clearly not the answer for LA. However, it is not correct to blame GM for the loss of streetcars when it was simple economics of the time that replaced streetcars with buses. GM simply was one of the companies selling the buses. If GM really tried to remove light rail from LA, why did so many other cities do the same thing with out GM involvement? (All the facts are in Slater's article) Google it.

Corvette, I agree with you (mostly at least). I think focusing on GM being good or bad is totally missing the point. I always used to think that light rail and trains were always the answer. Until I realized the mobility of buses without the need for special infrastructure. However, I've recently realized that a dedicated mass transit system, whether it be bus or rail, that doesn't get stuck i the traffic it's trying to relieve, is to me the answer.

these street cars are entirely subject to the traffic jams that cars create. I'm always in favor of getting rid of car lanes and replacing them with dedicated rail or bus lanes that don't get stuck in traffic that cars create. I believe billions are being spent in the wrong direction in California and every time we cater to cars we get rid of much needed green space and destroy buildings because of the amount of space cars require. GM having caused this is irrelevant at this point.

And now 60 billion plus dollars later they still can't get a system that can compare to what they had.

Greedy bastads from General Motors, Standard Oil, Firestone Rubber wanted to sell diesel buses, and greedy bastards in Los Angeles city government helped them do it.

Just like today, those elected officials are the ones to be held accountable, not greedy Corporate interests.

Whether its GM of the past or Real Estate Developers of today, anyone can ask for the moon, its up to the elected officials to just say "no."

Its up to the voters to keep the heat on elected officials - they are the single point of contact. And the public can use the press to embarrass politicians into doing the right thing.

Actually, all Canadian cities except for Toronto have ditched their streetcar/tram systems. In addition, all trolleycoaches/trolleybuses in Canada have been scrapped except for Vancouver.

Sad that people scrapped streetcar/tram systems in North America.