“In the late 1920s, General Motors secretly began to purchase trolley systems throughout the United States, using a number of front corporations. Trolley systems in Tulsa, OK, Montgomery, AL, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, El Paso, TX, Baltimore, Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles–more than one hundred trolley systems in all–were purchased by GM and then completely dismantled, their tracks ripped up, their overhead wires torn down. The trolley companies were turned into bus lines, and the new buses were manufactured by GM.”
pg. 16 “Fast Food Nation” by Eric Schlosser.
I have never heard that at any time until I read this book. Mass transit was alive and well until GM came in and killed it. That set the stage for our car-dependent culture today…and GM is getting bailout funds from the government. Simply unreal.
