Mike Smith, director of Wayne State University\'s Walter P. Reuther Library, comments extensively in a story about Detroit\'s 19th century streetcars. He notes that, from the beginning, the right to move the paying public was a prize to be won and exploited. \"Every city did pretty much the same thing, giving private companies franchises, in some cases lasting as long as 50 or 100 years,\" Smith says. \"The private concern had to come up with the service, but the public was at their mercy.\" Smith adds, \"When personal transportation came about, it was very liberating.\"