Editing Key System (section)

=== National City Lines era ===
{{See also|Great American Streetcar Scandal}}
[[National City Lines]] acquired 64% of the stock in the system in 1946.<ref name="ctc03">{{Cite web |title=Traffic Engineers vs. Transit Patrons |url=http://www.moderntransit.org/ctc/ctc03.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204194934/http://www.moderntransit.org/ctc/ctc03.html |archive-date=February 4, 2012}}</ref>

The same year E. Jay Quinby hand published a document exposing the ownership of National City Lines ([[General Motors]], [[Firestone Tire]], and [[Phillips Petroleum]]). He addressed the publication to ''The Mayors; The City Manager; The City Transit Engineer; The members of The Committee on Mass-Transportation and The Tax-Payers and The Riding Citizens of Your Community''. In it he wrote "This is an urgent warning to each and every one of you that there is a careful, deliberately planned campaign to swindle you out of your most important and valuable public utilities–your Electric Railway System".<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 2003 |title=Paving the Way for Buses – The Great GM Streetcar Conspiracy Part II – The Plot Clots |url=http://www.baycrossings.com/dispnews.php?id=422 |website=Bay Crossings |quote=E. Jay Quinby, a mercurial rail fan, former electric traction employee, retired Lieutenant Commander in the Navy (World War II), and home builder of a battery-powered electric Volkswagen. His contribution to this story was to hand publish and expose the owners of National City Lines (GM, Firestone, and Phillips Petroleum) and he addressed it to "The Mayors; The City Manager; The City Transit Engineer; The members of The Committee on Mass-Transportation and The Tax-Payers and The Riding Citizens of Your Community." In 1946, he sent his 36-page analysis, which began: "This is an urgent warning to each and every one of you that there is a careful, deliberately planned campaign to swindle you out of your most important and valuable public utilities–your Electric Railway System."}}</ref>

The new owners made a number of rapid changes. In 1946 they cut back the A-1 train route and then the express trains in 1947. The company increased fares in 1946 and then in both January and November 1947. During the period there were many complaints of overcrowding.<ref name="ctc05">{{Cite web |title=The Desired Result: Drive People to Drive |url=http://www.moderntransit.org/ctc/ctc05.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204194906/http://www.moderntransit.org/ctc/ctc05.html |archive-date=February 4, 2012}}</ref>

On April{{nbsp}}9, 1947, nine corporations and seven individuals (constituting officers and directors of certain of the corporate defendants) were [[Indictment#United States|indicted]] in the [[United States District Court for the Southern District of California|Federal District Court of Southern California]] on two counts: '[[Conspiracy (civil)|conspiring]] to acquire control of a number of transit companies, forming a transportation [[monopoly]]' and 'Conspiring to monopolize sales of buses and supplies to companies owned by National City Lines'.<ref>{{Cite web |year=1951 |title=United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit |url=http://www.altlaw.org/v1/cases/770576 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080608012144/http://www.altlaw.org/v1/cases/770576 |archive-date=June 8, 2008 |quote=On April 9, 1947, nine corporations and seven individuals, constituting officers and directors of certain of the corporate defendants, were indicted on two counts, the second of which charged them with conspiring to monopolize certain portions of interstate commerce, in violation of Section 2 of the Anti-trust Act, 15 U.S.C.A. §&nbsp;2.}}</ref> They were convicted of conspiring to monopolize sales of buses and supplies. They were [[Acquittal|acquitted]] of conspiring to monopolize the ownership of these companies.

In 1948 National City Lines proposed a plan to convert all the streetcars to buses.<ref name="ctc04">{{Cite web |title=The Fight to Save the Streetcars and Electric Trains |url=http://www.moderntransit.org/ctc/ctc04.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204194855/http://www.moderntransit.org/ctc/ctc04.html |archive-date=February 4, 2012}}</ref> They placed an advertisement in the local papers explaining their plan to 'modernize' and 'motorize' Line 14.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Newspaper ad (reduced from actual size) |newspaper=Oakland Tribune |date=January 23, 1948 |url=http://www.moderntransit.org/ctc/ad.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314081615/http://www.moderntransit.org/ctc/ad.html |archive-date=March 14, 2012}}</ref> The Oakland City Council opposed the plan by 5–3.<ref name=ctc03 /> The [[California Public Utilities Commission|Public Utilities Commission]] (PUC) supported the plan which included large fare increases.<ref name="ctc04" /> In October 1948, 700 people signed a petition with the PUC "against the Key System, seeking restoration of the bus service on the #70 Chabot Bus line".<ref name=ctc05 /> The city councils of Oakland, Berkeley and San Leandro opposed the removal of street cars. The traffic planners supported removal of the streetcar lines to facilitate movement of automobiles.<ref name=ctc03 /> Local governments in the East Bay attempted to purchase the Key System, but were unsuccessful.

Streetcars were converted to buses during November/December 1948.<ref name=ctc04 />

In 1949 National City Lines, [[General Motors]] and others were convicted of conspiring to monopolize the sale of buses and related products to their subsidiary transit companies throughout the U.S.<ref>See appeals court ruling: [http://www.altlaw.org/v1/cases/770576 Altlaw.org] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080608012144/http://www.altlaw.org/v1/cases/770576 |date=June 8, 2008 }}</ref>

Between 1946 and 1954 transbay fares increased from 20¢ to 50¢ (${{inflation|US|.2|1946|r=2}} to ${{inflation|US|.5|1954|r=2}} adjusted for inflation). Fares in this period were used to operate and for 'motorisation' which included streetcar track removal, repaving, purchase of new buses and the construction of bus maintenance facilities. Transbay ridership fell from 22.2{{nbsp}}million in 1946 to 9.8{{nbsp}}million in 1952.<ref name=ctc05 />

The Key System's famed commuter train system was dismantled in 1958 after many years of declining ridership as well by the corrupt monopolistic efforts of National City Lines. The last run was on April{{nbsp}}20, 1958.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Mackey |first1=William |title=Buses Take Over On Bay Bridge Today |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-san-francisco-examiner/135407334/ |access-date=18 November 2023 |newspaper=The San Francisco Examiner |via=Newspapers.com |date=April 20, 1958 |page=17}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=East Shore & Suburban Railway & other El Cerrito Railroad Chronology |url=http://www.elcerritohistoricalsociety.org/ecprintfiles/railchron.pdf |access-date=October 18, 2020 |publisher=[[El Cerrito, California|El Cerrito]] Historical Society}}</ref> In 1960, the newly formed publicly owned AC Transit took over the Key System's facilities.<ref>{{cite news |title=Two-County Transit Hands Over $7.5 Million for Key |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/martinez-news-gazette/135220604/ |access-date=15 November 2023 |newspaper=Martinez News-Gazette |via=Newspapers.com |date=September 30, 1960 |page=[https://www.newspapers.com/article/martinez-news-gazette/135220604/ 1]–[https://www.newspapers.com/article/martinez-news-gazette/135220719/ 2]}}</ref>

Most of the rolling stock was scrapped, with some sold to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Several streetcars, interurbans and bridge units were salvaged for collections in the United States. Of the large bridge units, three are at the [[Western Railway Museum]] near Rio Vista, California<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.wrm.org/equipment/equipment.htm |title=WRM equipment roster}}</ref> while another is at the [[Orange Empire Railway Museum]] in southern California.