National City Lines Conspiracy and Conviction in Federal Court :



"Mass transit didn't just die, it was murdered" Kwitny, 1981



"When GM and a few other big companies created a transportation oligopoly for the internal-combustion engine . . . they did not rely just on the obvious sales pitch. They conspired. They broke the law. . . in 1949 a jury convicted the corporations and several executives of criminal antitrust violations for their part in the demise of mass transit. The convictions were upheld on appeal." Kwitny, 1981



The above quotes refer to the infamous anti-mass transit "National City Lines Conspiracy" led by General Motors, Standard Oil and Firestone Tires. The above quotes by Jonathan Kwitny are taken from page 14 of the Feb 1981 edition of Harper's Magazine (PDF). It is a truly exceptional article.



In 1949, National City Lines were convicted in Federal court (and in 1951 the conviction was upheld) for destroying the electrified rail and electric bus transit systems in 44 American cities. Beginning in 1937, National City Lines embarked on a nationwide campaign to induce cities (by aggressively pushing “an offer you can’t refuse” of G.M. /National City Lines financing – at the height of a 12 year long, world-wide economic depression) to scrap electrically powered streetcars and trolley-buses, which G.M. did not make, and to substitute gasoline powered buses manufactured by G.M., burning Standard Oil gasoline, and rolling on Firestone rubber tires. When National City Lines would aquire a transit system, the trolley rails would be ripped up, the overhead wires would be cut down, and the system would be converted to buses within 90 days. It's noteworthy that New York City's electrified surface transportation system was National City Lines first victim (see the video “Taken For A Ride”).



Strangely, although the Federal Government won the case against G.M., it never imposed any penalty on the company other than extremely small symbolic fines. Perhaps at the time, the Truman administration felt it needed the undivided assistance of G.M. in fighting the Korean War, and pursuing the “Cold War” against the former Soviet Union, more than it needed a national, privately financed and operated all electric mass transit system.



