> they were deployed in early (post WWII) suburbs to entice urban people to move to a suburbs No, the streetcar suburbs were ALL pre-war. Pre-WWI, mostly. (See

> they were deployed in early (post WWII) suburbs to entice urban people to move to a suburbs No, the streetcar suburbs were ALL pre-war. Pre-WWI, mostly. (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streetcar_suburb https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streetcar_suburb ) And the streetcar companies were generally private companies that operated at a profit -- until they had to compete with cars for both riders and space. And this is key, nobody loved the streetcar companies, because they had a history of gouging commuters. So when those companies got in trouble, there was no political will for any kind of bailout.