From sokol at jhu.edu Wed Sep 22 13:17:35 1999
Some 50 or so years ago, trolleys were most familiar and
nad hard working GM exec knew it would be hard sell to
persuade people to voluntarily abandon that familar mode
of transportation and switch to the unfamilar automobile.
So instead of relying on "democratic" mechanisms such as
voting, these brave execs took a more radical step, and
pulled the rug of familiarity from under the people's feet
by dismantling the trolley system, and thus pushing them
into the brave new world of automotive progress.
Not exactly truthful; trolleys had their own problems.
Here's a good reference for the demise of the Key System in SF: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0916374661/qid=938039857/
/jordan