San Diego and the PCC Streetcar, excerpted from an article by P. Allen Copeland.

In the early 1930’s, a group known as the Electric Railway President’s Conference Committee (later shortened to the President’s Conference Committee, or PCC), started research on a design of streetcars that would modernize the vehicle fleet that were being used to haul passengers on the street railways of North America. While the rubber tired motor coach and trolley coach promised operating economies and an up to date appearance, many transit operators had a heavy investment in track, power systems and supporting infrastructure that necessitated new equipment to effectively utilize the capital investment until it could be fully depreciated. Further, it was thought that new and attractive vehicles would attract new business that was being pulled away from public transit by the use of the private automobiles and competing models of transportation.

The PCC car, as it was to be designated, did not preserve the electric railway industry, and could be said to have merely slowed the decline in the use of public transit that was carried by rail. However, the design of the PCC car was an unqualified success, the cars and components set new standards of ride quality, performance and energy efficiency. Even after the decline of streetcar service in North America, the technology of the PCC car was exported to Europe where it flourished, and continues to be refined and improved. In fact, in recent years much of this European transit technology has been reintroduced into North America as new light rail systems are constructed and enlarged, such as what has happened in San Diego.

The San Diego Electric Railway, at its peak operated just over 100-miles of route miles that were served by electric streetcars. Up to this time, the only truly modern cars were fifty vehicles built in late 1923 to operate on the new interurban lines to Ocean Beach, Pacific Beach and La Jolla, and on routes serving the areas north and east of downtown. These cars were fast and comfortable, and as originally designed, were capable of running in trains. Although San Diego was not affected by the great depression as much as other metropolitan areas that relied on heavy industry, patronage declines were just as much of an economic problem to the company. Much of the service was operated with depreciated equipment dating back to the years before World War One. These old cars were characterized by wooden construction, slow speeds and uncomfortable seating. The company rebuilt most of this equipment so that it could be operated with a single operator to save wage expenses, but the deficiencies of the old cars were obvious to the riders and the company.

The new cars, introduced in March, 1937 showed a marked improvement in operation over older equipment and attracted new patronage. The company soon determined that the 25 cars were not quite enough to operate three complete routes with modern cars, so another order was placed with St. Louis for three additional PCC’s which were delivered in 1938.

Soon after the PCC cars were delivered, transit patronage increased as the effects of a buildup in the defense industry and the many military bases in the San Diego area. A number of streetcar lines were converted to bus operation from 1937-1940, and this released older cars to help on the lines that had the heaviest patronage. Some of the older cars were then used on lines featuring the PCC cars in rush hour and tripper service. Two used steel cars were acquired and rehabilitated for use on the isolated Coronado line, and for a short time, virtually all streetcar service was provided by 80 relatively modern vehicles. As the buildup to World War Two continued and the U.S. entered World War Two in December, 1941, San Diego experienced a 340% increase in transit patronage, the highest of any American city. Much of the increase was caused by gasoline and tire rationing, and to further save scarce resources, the U.S. Office of Defense Transportation prohibited the conversion of any more streetcar lines to bus for the duration. Fortunately for San Diego, some of the older cars that were replaced by buses and the PCC cars were not scrapped, but stored in the recesses of the Coronado and Adams Ave. car barns. These were brought back into service, and the company also purchased surplus rolling stock from Salt Lake City, Utah, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania and New York City to assist in carrying war time traffic. A traffic check in May, 1944 found that on weekdays, lines #1, #2 and #3 were mostly served by PCC cars, with older cars being used in rush hours, and on Saturday afternoons, Sundays and holidays, all service was by the streamlined cars.

Unfortunately, the electric railway was owned by the Estate of John D. Spreckles (who had died in 1926) and the heirs were anxious to dispose of the remaining assets of the estate. On September 10, 1948 the SDER was sold to Jesse Haugh and renamed the San Diego Transit System. Mr. Haugh soon announced that the the remaining three streetcar lines would be converted as soon as new motor coaches could be delivered from General Motors. On April 24, 1949, the last streetcar operations ended. PCC #510 was the last car to operate on the #11 route, and car #503 was the last car to operate on the #2 route. One of the 1923 steel streetcars was the last car to operate on the #7 in the early morning hours of the following day. San Diego was the first city in North America to completely abandon PCC streetcar in favor of rubber tired transit coaches.

If you would like to read more, download: San Diego and the PCC Streetcar by P. Allen Copeland, here.