London has a very developped public transport network with heavy rail, light rail and buses. It has recently received significant help from the Mayor of London making the City Center only accessible to private cars paying a toll.

The current ticketing system is based on two technologies: contactless cards (OYSTER) implemented recently and magnetic tickets used since many years. The OYSTER card works on the store value principle and charged fares depend on the distance travel where ever possible. Travelling along, you realise that it is difficult to understand how much you are charged. However, it looks very popular amongst londoners. Also, a number of other ticket types remain alongside the OYSTER card to cover all the uncovered cases.

There is a significant fare incentive between the same trip made with an OYSTER and with a single ticket: £1.50 to £4.00. This might very well be a major contribution to the popularity of the OYSTER concept.