1956: "AWAITING DESTRUCTION-- Old Pаcific Electric cаrs аre piled up like tоys at junkyard оn Terminal Island, awaiting dismantling tо become scrap metal." - Los Angeles Times Electric trolley cars or trams were once the chief mode of public transportation in the United States. Though they required tracks and electric cables to run, these trolley cars were clean and comfortable. In 1922, auto manufacturer General Motors created a special unit to replace electric trolleys with cars, trucks, and buses. Over the next decade, they lobbied for laws and regulations that made operating trams more difficult and less profitable. In 1936 General Motors created several front companies to purchase and dismantle the trolley car system. They received big investments from Firestone Tire, Standard Oil of California, Phillips Petroleum, and others in the automotive industry. Some people suspect that these parties wanted to replace trolley cars with buses to make public transportation less desirable. This would then increase automobile sales. The decline of the tram system in North America could be blamed on many things-- labor strikes, the Great Depression, regulations that were unfavorable to operators. Yet, perhaps the primary cause was having a group of powerful men from rival sectors of the auto industry working together to ensure its destruction. Fill it up, please. Which BELONGS in a summary of the text? Labor strikes helped to end the public tram system. Auto companies tried to destroy the public tram system. Busses can drive anywhere but a tram has to stay on a track. Trams require electric tracks and cables to run. Which DOES NOT BELONG in a summary of the text? Trams used to be the main form of public transportation. The Great Depression was another reason the tram system ended. Car companies worked together to destroy the tram system. The trams were replaced by busses. Which best describes that MAIN IDEA of the text? Electric trolley cars were inconvenient due to needing cables and tracks to run. Car companies made public transportation worse to boost their sales. The Great Depression was a very hard time for most Americans. The bus system was a great improvement over the electric trolley system.