Image from Taken for a Ride, a film by James Klein

Taken for a Ride

(Klein and Olson, 1996)

»DVD/streaming purchasing options at NEW DAY FILMS

Following a long buried trail of auto/oil industry schemes, Taken for a Ride exposes the dummy corporations, secret stock transactions and propaganda campaigns that destroyed one third of the nation’s streetcars.

The film reveals the tragic and little known story of an auto and oil industry campaign, led by General Motors, to buy and dismantle streetcar lines. Across the nation, tracks were torn up—sometimes overnight—and diesel buses placed on city streets. The highway lobby then pushed through Congress a vast network of urban freeways that doubled the cost of the Interstates, fueled suburban development, increased auto dependence, and elicited passionate opposition. Seventeen city freeways were stopped by citizens who would become the leading edge of a new environmental movement.

With investigative journalism, vintage archival footage and candid interviews, Taken for a Ride presents a revealing history of our cities in the 20th century that is also a meditation on corporate power, city form, citizen protest, and the social and environmental implications of transportation.

Taken for a Ride had its broadcast premiere on the PBS documentary flagship series POV in August 1996, and was featured at numerous international film festivals, including IDFA in Amsterdam. The film was also distributed to European television outlets, and purchased by hundreds of university and college libraries in the U.S.

An important piece of American History…and a powerful critique of the influence of corporate wealth on our daily lives. I hope it will be widely seen. We desperately need to stop the destruction of our cities and make them clean, beautiful places to live.Howard Zinn, author, A PEOPLE’S HISTORY OF THE U.S.
A story that needs to be told! Shows courage and determination in uncovering this “hidden history.” It is surprisingly moving and solidly documented.Kenneth Jackson, Professor of History, Columbia University, author, CRABGRASS FRONTIER
Fascinating. Taken For A Ride offers strong evidence. It raises unsettling historical questions about why public transit has let the public down.Caryn James, NEW YORK TIMES
This film is a must see. Identifies the powerful forces opposing us as we try to create a more humane, sustainable and less polluting nation.Dr. John Holtzclaw, Chair Sierra Club Transportation Committee
A tragically important story. This valuable documentary should be seen by anyone interested in the crises of America’s cities and suburbs.James Kunstler, author, THE GEOGRAPHY OF NOWHERE
»Review on Counterpunch by Mike Ferner