Drawing on a wide variety of historical and media sources, this book tells the story of London’s transport during an unexplored era in a novel way. It takes the passengers’ perspective to explain fares, services and competitors through a new, accessible and challenging set of arguments, describing the users’ experience. To do that, the book approaches London’s commuters in the three ways that they have been seen by providers and politicians: as passive passengers, recipients of a service designed for them by experts; as active citizens, prepared to be directly involved in running a municipal system; and as discerning customers with choices about how, where and when they travel. The 1948–2000 period saw these viewpoints move in and out of fashion, and since each was intrinsically linked to politics and represented a complete prescription for how a transport system should work, the clashes were dramatic and had palpable effects on the daily experience of millions of people. Here James Fowler explains what ensued on London’s transport, why it happened, and how the hard lessons for Transport for London’s later success were learned in the preceding decades.

"'It is a thoughtful book, exploring the views of the time and trying to explain how the system which is now being copied around the country came about.'" - PSV Circle, December 2025