A Streetcar Named Denial

Documentary about how General Motors bought out electric railways in the 40s to boost automobile, bus and gasoline sales, dooming interurban electric transit. Made as a project for a film class at the University of Utah, not for public use.

There's some audio issues with the narration, popping in and out, cause this was recorded on a gaming headset, so yea, deal.

There are a lot of sources for the information used in this film, which I haven't bothered to list as this is a personal project, my first documentary, and I have no intention of using it for any portfolios, festivals or other public use. If you would like a list of these resources, feel free to contact me.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• Documentary
• street
• car
• film
• project
• general
• motors
• trolley
• salt
• lake
• city
• history

[Corvetteably]

This video has basically been debunked. GM didn't kill streetcar lines. The streetcars were less economical to operate and less flexible with respect to routing and the like. GM and other manufactures were ready to sell buses when it became clear that the streetcars were less cost effective.

Do a search for Slater's article "General Motors and the Demise of the Streetcar" to get the facts and see how Snell distorted the truth when making his case against GM.

[Digidaniel]

I hardly call that being debunked. Your whole comment screams money money money, justifying what they did because it was a good business move. Streetcars were less economical and less flexible because the interest wasn't there to make it better, interest was forcing people into a system that made more money. Public transit in cities like SLC is inferior to places like Toronto and London and New York because these projects were destroyed. GMs an auto company, so I don't blame them for it.

[Digidaniel]

It's Capitalism at its best, but they didn't look 50 years down the line, and if they did, they probably didn't care because having public transit flourish does nothing for a company that sits on the other side of the line of the competitive market.

[Intransitman]

Great video, there is a very strong anti-rail bias in our government.

At one time there were close to 260,000 miles of railroad in the US, today there is only about 140,000.

Now compare this to the 4,000,000 miles of road in the US, which has never made a dime!

[realinterrobang]

Please explain how electric streetcars, which are cheap to run, use next to no energy (because they're not self-propelled and don't carry their own engines and fuel with them) and have very long operational lifespans (~50 years) are more "cost effective" than buses, which are hard to maintain, use lots of fuel, and need to be replaced every 20 years or less.

They're only "cost-effective" if other externalities are driving up the costs of operating them, and artificially lowering bus costs.

[Amidat]

How ironic that in the 21st century - GM needed to be bailed out by the taxpayers... and municipalities all over the country are spending billions to put "light rail" in their cities and town.... instead of a much smaller amount to update what could have still been there. What a sad waste.

[tutuankoma]

@Corvetteably In reality, you do not know if the streetcar lines would have died out as you like to quote Cliff Slater so often. If buses are so much more efficient, why are the major bus systems so heavily subsidized? Do you actually believe the fares pay for all those buses? Maybe buses are only efficient to the bus manufacturers who sell them.

[jeffiek]

@realinterrobang "because they're not self-propelled"

Don't tell me, let me guess. The people got out and pushed them.

Idiot.

[Corvettably]

@RichardR369 Espionage? No. If you read, GM was NOT convicted of trying to destroy mass transit systems. They and the other defendants were only convicted of forced the transit companies they owned from buying parts and supplies from other vendors.

[Corvettably]

Funny how people don't want to hear the truth so they vote down comments that challenge this BS myth. Slater showed just how wrong this idea is. People just love a good conspiracy story. Even ones that are shown to be not true.

[RichardR369]

If GM wasn't involved in corporate espionage, why were they convicted? Sounds like the anti-mass transit fans have a lot of denial going on.

[TrainmasterCurt]

Just look at Toronto, they said NO to GM or bus favouritism

[Corvetteably]

@MGman800 Given that 90% of streetcar lines in the US DID close down and GM partially owned only 10% I would say Slater was right. Without GM the lines would still go down. The LA light lines were replaced with buses because buses were more cost effective. That's not sinister, that's simple economics. Slater makes that case in great detail. It's also worth noting that the courts decided GM was NOT guilty of conspiring to shut down streetcar lines.

[MGman800]

Of course I have read Slater's article. He states that streetcars would've passed away even without GM's involvement. However, he doesn't admit that GM was part of NCL and attempted to push for highway legislation. And while there were some systems that had closed due to financial reasons, this conflict is about NCL's lobbying to rid of Los Angeles's light rail system.

[Corvetteably]

@MGman800 I really don't think you have researched this at all. Slater's article, which was pier reviewed BTW, provides very good economic explanations why streetcar systems died out. How can you explain that 90% of all streetcar lines in the US died out even though GM had partial ownership in less than 10%? Did the others just decide they didn't want to run anymore?