Today London has one of the world’s most extensive transport systems. But because it was the first city to build a railway network, much of the infrastructure—the trains and buses, the tracks and tunnels—is now hopelessly out-of-date, and needs urgent modernization. Over a million people travel into central London every day from outside the city. They, and the people who live in London, want a public transport system that is frequent, safe, reliable, affordable and environmentally friendly. What they often get, however, falls far short of that ideal. Commuters complain about delays, unreliability, cost and pollution, while businesses worry about the problems their staff have getting to work on time. Companies also face high costs for delivering goods and services in a city where congestion means that cars today travel at the same speed as horse-drawn carriages did in the last century. Yet car ownership and use continues to grow. The proportion of London households that own a car grew from just over 10 percent in the early 1950s to over 60 percent today. Twenty percent of households now own two or more cars. As the city has become increasingly congested and polluted, there has been a growing realization that action is needed. However, precisely what should be done is hotly debated. Some people have called for cleaner fuels and strict controls on exhaust emissions. Others say more effort must be put into persuading people not to use their cars, perhaps by charging people to drive in London. There does seem to be agreement on one thing, though—that until London’s public transport system is improved, people will continue to use their cars.