False Claim: GM Destroyed the Streetcar Industry

All of the below is from : Transportation Quarterly, Vol. 51. No. 3 Summer 1997 (45-66)

The Advent of Streetcars

Public transportation did not impact most Americans until the arrival of the electric streetcar in 1888. Streetcars developed rapidly after its introduction. By World War I there were few towns of more than 10,000 population without a streetcar system. Prior to 1920, streetcar use increased steadily, stimulated by three major influences:
• rising incomes,
• lower real fares, and
• rapid urban population growth
These positive influences overcame the negative effect that increased auto use had on streetcar ridership. The Jitney "Craze" The auto's first major impact on cities was the great jitney craze during 1914-16. During this time jitneys made serious inroads into streetcar ridership until legal maneuvering by the streetcar companies put most of the jitneys out of business.

The first U.S. jitneys ran in Los Angeles in the middle of 1914 and before the end of the year there were 800 jitneys in Los Angeles alone. Jitney use spread rapidly across the entire United States from Portland, Maine, in the East to San Francisco in the West. From a standing start in mid-1914, licensed jitneys reached an estimated peak of 62,000 nationally in 1915.

September 1915, Motor Bus:

Most of the buses at this time are ordinary touring cars. The touring car, however, is being superseded by the regular motor bus....While the streetcar companies are showing a hostility, not unnatural, to the competitor who is materially reducing their profits, we venture to predict that inside of a few years the present-day streetcar interests will have huge investments in the more economic means of transportation. It should be remembered that (the streetcar) interests' business is the carrying of passengers. If a more economic method of transporting passengers is  discovered, they would be foolish to persist in their obsolete system. Never again, however, can the traction interests have a monopoly of public transportation. They must learn to compete, as other businesses compete.

Development of the Modern Motor Bus

The streetcar made no significant technical advances during the 1920s, whereas the motor bus changed beyond recognition. The motor bus was not taken seriously until about 1920, but from then on growth was explosive. Manufacturers made significant improvements to chassis and engines during this time. The improvements in speed, handling, and comfort made buses less costly and more comfortable. America's cities were rapidly paving their city streets and this helped the bus.

Buses attracted new ridership because they were much faster and more comfortable than streetcars, particularly after the introduction of the heavy-duty pneumatic "balloon" tires during the early 1920s.Buses were also safer since they could pull in to the curb to discharge passengers, whereas streetcars had to let passengers off in the center of the street.

The public looked upon buses more favorably than the streetcars.

Now that we have your attention, read the full article: http://www.lava.net/cslater/TQOrigin.pdf   (Local copy)