Streetcar systems went bankrupt and were dismantled in virtually every metro area in the United States, and National City was only involved in about 10 percent of cases. It's also not exactly right to say the streetcar died because Americans chose the car.

The disappearance of American trams, or streetcars, in the mid-20th century was the result of a complex interplay of economic, social, and industrial factors. In the early 1900s, almost every major U.S. city had a robust electric streetcar network, but the rise of the personal automobile began to erode their dominance by providing unmatched individual mobility. Simultaneously, many transit companies were private entities burdened by fixed "five-cent" fares that didn't keep pace with inflation, leading to deferred maintenance and aging infrastructure. A controversial chapter involves the "Great American Streetcar Scandal," where a consortium led by National City Lines (funded by General Motors, Firestone, and Phillips Petroleum) purchased and dismantled streetcar systems in dozens of cities to replace them with buses. While historians debate the intent of this "conspiracy," the shift toward suburbanization and federally funded highway projects ultimately sealed the fate of the rails. Today, many cities are seeing a "streetcar renaissance," building modern light rail systems that mimic the old networks.