London is a huge metropolitan area that is why public transport is vitally important for the city dwellers as well as tourists, for whom it might be quite confusing to get about London. Unlike Russian public transport, British transport system is reliable and quite cheap. However, due to the increase of car ownership, London traffic has become 3 times as heavy as it used to be and the length of the traffic jams increased dramatically. As a result, the problem of fatal car accidents appeared.Apart from taxies, there are 2 main methods of transport in London: the Underground and the buses. Buses are best for sightseeing, especially double-decker buses. However, they are rather slow, especially during the rush hour. On the traditional double-decker there were no doors and passengers leaped up and off the bus and conductor was moving about and collecting fares from the passengers. However, nowadays fares are given directly to the driver or to the machine. Moreover, London transport has recently introduced single-decker buses which are called "Red Arrows".London Underground, which is also called Tube, offers people more convenient, speedy and direct form of travel. The Underground was opened at the end of the 19th century, in 1884. Now there are more than 270 stations. You can recognize the Tube stations by the red and blue signs at the street level. There is no fixed fare, because it depends on the distance you travel. You can buy a ticket or a ticket-stub from a booking office clerk or from a machine. There are 8 different underground lines in the London Underground system. The travelers, who are not familiar with the Tube, should always consult the map.So, London transport system is rapid and fast, but sometimes it can be really confusing.
