Public transport services in urban areas, as elsewhere in Europe, suffer from the fact that there is so much private traffic on the roads that they are not as cheap, as frequent or as fast as they otherwise could be. They also stop running inconveniently early at night. Efforts have been made to speed up journey times by reserving certain lanes for buses, but so far there has been no widespread attempt to give priority to public transport vehicles at traffic lights. An interesting modern development is that trams, which disappeared from the country's towns during the 1950Sand 1960 s, are now making a comeback. Research has shown that people seem to have more confidence in the reliability of a service which runs on tracks, and are therefore readier to use a tram than they would be to use an ordinary bus.

Britain is on e of the few countries in Europe where double-decker buses (I.e. with two floors) are a common Sight. Although single-deckers have also been in use since the I960s, London still has more than 3,000 double-deckers in operation. In their original form they were 'hop-o n, hop-off ' buses. That is, there were no doors, just an opening at the back to the outside .There was a conductor who walked around collecting fares while the bus was moving. However, most buses these days , including double-deckers, have separate doors for getting on and off and no conductor (fares are paid to the driver).

The famous London Underground, known as ' the tube', is feeling the effects of its age (it was first opened in 1863). It is now one of the dirtiest and least efficient of all such systems in European cities. However, it is still heavily used because it provides excellent connections with the main line train stations and with the suburbs surrounding the city.

Another symbol of London is the distinctive black taxi (in fact, they are not all black these days, nor are they confined to London).

According to the traditional stereotype, the owner-drivers of London taxis, known as cabbies, are friendly Cockneys who never stop talking. While it may not be true that they are all like this, they all have to demonstrate, in a difficult examination, detailed familiarity with London's streets and buildings before they are given their licence. (This familiarity is known simply as 'the knowledge'.) Normally, these traditional taxis cannot be hired by phone. You simply have to find one on the street. But there are also many taxi companies who get most of their business over the phone. Their taxis are known as 'minicabs'. They tend to have a reputation, not always justified, for unreliability as well as for charging unsuspecting tourists outrageous prices (in common with taxis all over the world). However, taxis and minicabs are expensive and most British people rarely use them, except, perhaps, when going home late at night after public transport has stopped running, especially if they have been drinking alcohol.