In the 1950's, the city of Los Angeles had a streetcar system. It was ripped up and replaced by busses. NCL was an organisation formed to acquire streetcar facilities and NCL was owned by Firestone Tyres, General Motors, Standard Oil of California and Phillips Petroleum.
Perhaps in the 1950's, this de-railing of the streetcars didn't seem such a bad idea.
However, in London, in 2008, I would've thought London voters would have known better. Mayor Ken Livingstone bravely introduced the Congestion Charge. Personally, I have never needed dissauding from driving into London's city centre, even before the introduction of the Congestion Charge. It was hell to find a place to park and when you did, it cost a fortune, you could walk to where you were going, faster, than you could drive there.
Mayor Boris has scrapped the £25 charge for Chelsea Tractors. Apart from being total gas-guzzlers, they take up far more space than my modest 1.6L car. Are roads going to be enlarged to make room for these huge vehicles? I even saw a Chelsea Tractor that was so large that it couldn't even get into a car park!
The more sinister overtone for London is that Porsche's involvement in city politics. Well, the London voters apparently agree with Porsche and Boris?
