Cities did their best to kill transit without GM&#x27;s meddling. For instance, capping fares on all public transit meant that over time the fare in inflation adjusted terms <i>fell</i>. Public transit was being starved to death from this, even in places where cars could never compete such as New York.<p>The subways there went bankrupt from the fare cap as the city had some obsessive need to take over the subway systems.<p>Cars didn&#x27;t pay anything for road wear, and they didn&#x27;t (and still don&#x27;t) pay anything towards congestion. They clogged the streets, made streetcars slower, and essentially freeloaded.<p>Utilities were forced to divest from streetcar ownership, which forced the streetcar companies to pay retail electricity prices instead of wholesale ones.<p>At the time GM came around, public transit was already hurting. GM was able to do what they did because the companies were hurting and could be bought cheaply.