In a sense, they were, if you consider "evil" to be doing whatever it takes to advance your agenda.
On a more on topic note, I'm trying to imagine a world where personal cars didn't take off. What would be the difference (at least in the US)? More cities, less suburbans comes to mind. Will it be better?
Different countries have far different degrees of automobile use. Essentially nobody commutes by automobile in Tokyo or Manhattan, and those cities are organized around major railroad stations as opposed to highway interchanges, with neighborhoods designed to satisfy needs in compact walkable areas rather than distant auto-oriented shopping centers.
Many Manhattan vehicles are delivery trucks or service vehicles driven by construction or foodservice workers. Many are taxis or car service vehicles. Some are avoiding the $17+ toll on the Verazzano Narrows bridge by taking the free Manhattan Bridge & Holland Tunnel. Parking a car for a reasonable price is essentially impossible in much of Manhattan, and garages are also packed by valets that pack cars in tightly in tiny garages accessed via car elevator. Unless you're a cop, in which case you just park on the sidewalk because you know the other cops won't ticket you.
And, of course, the number of pedestrians is far more vast than the number of cars.
We'd have to build up instead of out. Jet-powered elevators become the norm, with a villainous group of Elevatormakers lobbying for jayleapers to not rappel down elevator shafts.
On a more on topic note, I'm trying to imagine a world where personal cars didn't take off. What would be the difference (at least in the US)? More cities, less suburbans comes to mind. Will it be better?