**The Conspiracy Behind Los Angeles' Electric Commuter System**

Every person knows that traffic in LA sucks. What they may not know is the conspiracy behind the demise of the city's electric commuter system. In this article, we'll delve into the fascinating story of how General Motors (GM) and National City Lines (NCL) allegedly destroyed the public rail system in Los Angeles.

**The Rise and Fall of the Electric Commuter System**

In the early 20th century, Los Angeles had a thriving electric commuter system that transported millions of people across the city. However, as the years went by, the number of daily commuters began to fall, and the rise of affordable cars coupled with the expansive sprawl created by the rails coincidentally helped create contributed to the train's demise.

**The Conspiracy Unfolds**

It seemed like GM and NCL destroyed the public rail system in Los Angeles. But was it really a conspiracy? The story begins in the 1930s when NCL, backed by investors from Standard Oil of California, acquired several streetcar lines in Los Angeles. GM soon joined forces with NCL, providing financing and equipment for the new transit company.

**The Antitrust Lawsuit**

In 1949, an antitrust lawsuit was filed against GM, NCL, and other companies involved in the alleged conspiracy. The lawsuit claimed that these companies had conspired to acquire local transit companies, scrap their pollution-free electric trains, tear down power transmission lines, rip up tracks, and place GM motor buses on congested LA streets.

**The Verdict**

After a lengthy trial, the court found GM and NCL guilty of conspiring to monopolize the sale of buses to local transit companies controlled by NCL. However, they were acquitted of conspiring to monopolize the ownership of these companies. The fines imposed on GM were minimal, with their treasury secretary being fined just $1.

**The Real Reason Behind the Demise**

While it seemed like a sinister conspiracy, the truth was more complex. As the city's population grew and the economy boomed, Angelenos continued to pass legislation that funded public transit but opted to fund roads and highways instead. The lack of funding for the rail system ultimately led to its demise.

**The Revival of the Public Rail System**

In 1990, the Los Angeles Metro Rail system was introduced, marking a new era for public transportation in the city. Today, the system has expanded to include 93 stops and carries over 360,000 passengers daily. The future of transit in Los Angeles looks bright, with green initiatives and increased ridership driving the city towards a more sustainable mode of transportation.

**Conclusion**

While the conspiracy theory surrounding GM's involvement in the demise of the electric commuter system was intriguing, the truth lies in the complexities of urban development and public policy. As we move forward, it's essential to learn from the past and strive for a better future for our cities and their inhabitants.

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: eneverybody knows that traffic in la sucks what you might not know is that Los Angeles actually had one of the first most successful electric commuter systems in the world so what happened well we're about to find out this is wheelhouse put on your tinfoil hats friends I have a conspiracy for you but I want to see cars tear ass and burn out you say too bad we're talking conspiracies today we're not talking about the type of conspiracy concocted by an idiot that ends up with some nut firing done in a pizza place we're talking about how some major automotive corporations might have bought and dismantled the Los Angeles public transit system does that sound familiar to you well you'll not be an IDs kid the plot of Who Framed Roger Rabbit was loosely based on it aside from winning four Oscars that year the film also helped me develop the lifelong obsession with cartoon ladies which is a conspiracy in itself so buckle in Jeff talking to you Jeff yeah really put some tape on your camera the movie industry was still decades away and 124 years before the Undertaker threw mankind off Helenus Allen plummeted 16 feet through an announcers table la installed its first Street railroad the rail system was powered by horses and the price for a ride was one karat probably don't quote me on that last part over the next few years many smaller rail companies came and went until 1877 when the Los Angeles stand Aliso Street railroad company started laying down some tracks you might know Aliso Street by its contemporary name the 101 for viewers not in the LA bubble we put the in front of our highway names because we're cool like that the population of Los Angeles was growing and the Royal system was more popular than ever due to the baseball fever sidenote my uncle caught baseball fever and we had to put him down citizens were enthusiastically supporting the affordable rail system in an era when getting around wasn't that easy business was booming and by 1894 the Los Angeles Railway had the lion's share of writers the company was known for their signature yellow cars not to be confused with yellow cars the punk band with the violinist hot take it's hard to look badass when you're wailing on a violin but that's just me there were over 642 miles of track the yellow cars of the Los Angeles Railway dominated the public transit scene like the Undertaker dominated mankind in 1998 the affordable trains covered a six mile radius from downtown LA and became an integral part of an ever-growing metropolis in 1911 a deal known as the great merger took place as eight companies were consolidated into the Pacific electric rail company aside from having a super-sick logo they also standardized rails and cars and made things a lot safer the new updated rail system expanded to a thousand miles of rails and over 2,000 daily trains and people were dancing to ragtime music group whatever they listened to seriously though I want a hat with that logo on it in 1945 a company named the National City lines purchased the railway from Pacific Electric National City lines sounds great right sounds like a train line right no National City lines was funded in part by Firestone tires General Motors in Standard Oil which is a small mom-and-pop company now known as Chevron I know what you're thinking you're thinking hey Nolan you're sexy and rugged and I want you to hook up with my sister and I agree but you're also thinking those companies don't sound like they have the best interest of public rail systems in mind and you'd be correct not just about the rail system but also about your sister let her know I'm interested seriously I'm single AF within a short time of the purchase national city lines discarded the iconic yellow cars they began integrating more buses into public transit that just so happened to be made like General Motors fueled by Standard Oil and rolling on Firestone tires if that's not a conspiracy I personally invite you to send me one of your turns if you could find my address right here psych the NCL claimed that the rail system was in decay and that buses could reach farther and wider than any train could so they added buses and decommissioned more railways totally wack right heather's thought so too which is why in 1947 nine corporations and seven individuals associated nash city lines were indicted for conspiring to form of transportation monopolies and conspiring to monopolize sales of buses and supplies to companies owned by national city lines by the end of the trial Firestone Tire Standard Oil Phillips Petroleum GM and Mack Trucks were convicted of conspiring to anomaly's the sale of buses to local transit companies controlled by NCL but were acquitted of conspiring to innopolis the ownership of these companies well at least we can all sleep at night knowing that a dastardly conspiracy was brought to justice and the companies find in Oblivion right right think again General Motors was fined $5,000 or what they like to call not an inconvenience at all GM's Treasury secretary HC Grossman was fined $1 because hey why not HC Grossman sounds like the name of a villain that destroys a beloved public service and gets off with a one dollar fine as much as I'd like to stay on this conspiracy train I should let you know that I've withheld some information to make this seem like more of a conspiracy than it really is don't be mad at me this is how clickbait works and we all know that I didn't invent clickbait it's called spin and it's literally why some news stations are making money I couldn't however in good faith continue to deceive you our loyal viewers and Jeff sweet Jeff please please put tape on your camera gets hot guy by every stretch of the imagination it seemed that GM and national city lines destroyed the public rail system in Los Angeles but in reality the number of daily commuters had been falling for decades the rise of affordable cars coupled with the expansive sprawl that the rails coincidentally helped create aided in the train cars demise it's like when my ex-wife convinced me to build her house and then dumped me I'll never forgive you Emma freeways were being built all over the city cutting driving time down significantly and things were not looking good for the rails Angelenos continued to pass on legislation that funded public transit and opted to fund roads and highways money dried up like Gator jerky and the rail system was officially taken out of service by the Metropolitan Transit Authority people required a broader range of mobility when it came to public transit and one could argue that GM and NC L saw transit trending a certain way and took advantage of it the public's perception on the Fiasco changed in 1974 after antitrust lawyer Bradford cease now testified before the US Senate during a period when la was completely engulfed in smog snow quibbled that General Motors and allied highway interests acquired the local transit companies scrapped the pollution free electric trains tore down the power transmission lines ripped up the tracks and placed GM motor buses on already congested la streets the testimony was convincing and the public started to blame GM for the dire pollution levels in Los Angeles but in reality it was mostly their own cars that were to blame everyone needs a scapegoat right when my Papa James catches me looking at cartoon women on my computer I blame my dog Mario sorry Mario but this story has a good ending and surprisingly doesn't involve anyone getting steamrolled the public rail system made a comeback in Los Angeles in 1990 with the induction of the underground metro system with more lines being built constantly the system is up to 93 stops and has a daily writer 360,000 la is distancing itself from the misconception that it's unmanageable without a car green initiatives and increased ridership of the rail system new smog and made the city beautiful again the future of transit in Los Angeles looks sunny maybe one day soon I could stop borrowing my dad's car to go to work eventually as more and more stops are built everyone else will be able to use the tunnel system we might see the amount of personal cars drop faster than mankind Valen - an announcer table at Helena cell in 1998 every week here in wheelhouse we look at the issues and the car world that affect you so hit that yellow subscribe button right there we reviewed a Tesla Model 3 you can watch that right here you want to know more about another weird GM project called Saturn check out this episode of wheelhouse right here aliens if you're watching follow me on Instagram and Nolan Jay Sykes and follow donut at donut media thanks for watching I'm gonna go look at my Jessica Rabbit deviant art collection see ya