How the promising PCC car was prematurely derailed: The U.S. electric streetcar industry failed to reap the rewards of its 1930s research, aimed at producing a revolutionary trolley car

This retrospective on transportation examines the case of the PCC (electric railway Presidents Conference Committee) streetcar of the 1930s, which was the world´s first trolley designed under the system known as the scientific method and took five years to develop. A historical account of the design effort is given, and the factors that lead to the demise of the street car are examined.