Those people who have the misfortune to commute into London each morning no doubt have tales to tell about the cost, crowding, delays and deficiencies of their journey.
But a visit to the newly revamped London Transport Museum will show them that this is nothing new: Londoners have been whinging about the city's transport system for the past 200 years.
The museum has just reopened after a two-year redevelopment that cost £22.4m. The money has been spent well, as for the most part it ably intertwines the history of London's transport system with the history of the city itself, showing how the two grew together, while using some beautiful objects to support its themes.
The visit starts in the World Cities gallery, really more of a walkway, where groups of small monitors, set into a large graphic wall, show audiovisuals of the transport systems of six cities: London, Delhi, New York, Paris, Shanghai and Tokyo.
It's very nicely done, as the films show a traveller's perspective of the city streets, stations and transport, and, more often than not, the sardine-like nature of getting about. There's no commentary, just ambient noise, though this can veer into the cheesy, such as the accordion music on the Paris metro clips.
The overall effect is informative: if you watch for long enough - and many visitors do stop - you can get a feeling for the similarities and differences of the systems in very diverse parts of the world.
Omnibuses and all
The walkway directs visitors to a lift that takes them up to the second floor where the museum starts in earnest. Visitors step out of the lift into an area that explores London transport in the 19th century.
A large graphic shows the physical size and the population of London in 1800 and 1901: the latter grew from less than 1 million people at the 1801 census to more than 4.5 million in 1901.
The subsequent gallery gives a chronological account of how the transport system developed alongside the city over this period. It focuses on three transport methods: the river, road and railways.
The buses are the pièce de resistance, with three beautifully restored omnibuses displayed in the centre of the room. These stunning objects are shown in a way that allows visitors to get an impression of what travel conditions might have been like: the first omnibus looks very plush, but riding on the top of the knifeboard carriage must have been a bit hair-raising.
Elsewhere, small models show other modes of transport, and well-designed and informative touchscreens make use of the museum's rich archive of engravings, photos, posters and other images.
Interwoven among this material are the voices of the drivers, passengers and other commentators, as well as images of the development of the city. It makes for a fascinating account of the history of the city.
The gallery is not without its problems, though. Covering all three modes of transport means it is a thorough exhibition, but in a small space it feels a bit overwhelming.
This isn't helped by the fact that all the modes of transport are arranged in parallel, and in some cases are separated by screens, so to get the whole picture visitors have to double-back on themselves.
Some of the small models are reproductions of the restored omnibuses, which doesn't make sense: why look at a model when the real thing is right next to it? And the lovely prints that are used on graphic panels are not attributed or dated.
The combination of transport and social history continues on the next level with the development of the railways into London. With this came the beginnings of the steam-operated Metropolitan, District and Circle lines (now part of the tube), which aimed to connect the various mainline stations and provide commuter routes.
Again, there is a lot to take in, but there are also lovely train carriages from the period and it's great to be able to sit inside them rather than be presented with "don't touch" signs.
Routemaster nostalgia
So far visitors have been directed on a route that has a chronology of social and transport histories, but on the mezzanine the social history takes a back seat and the account becomes more technical. Somehow that seems a bit of an anti-climax.
There are quite extensive and interesting displays on the problems that had to be overcome to develop the tube - such as how to get people to street level and how to provide power - but then the story peters out with an announcement that the tube system stayed more-or-less the same from 1907 until the 1970s, when the Victoria line opened.
The last level (ground floor) is disappointing. It is the place where the really big objects such as double-decker buses are displayed, and they look great. But it is also a place that feels like an advertisement for Transport for London's latest ventures. A whole gamut of initiatives is covered by one exhibit each, giving a feeling of disjointedness.
Some schemes are barely mentioned: cycling seems to be represented only by a display of bikes, for example. And then there are some strange panels tucked in obscure places, like the one on a women bus driver - if you're going to tackle the subject of women working in this male-dominated occupation, surely it's worthy of more than a few photos and a bit of text hidden behind a pillar?
The exit brings visitors back to the World Cities walkway, which serves as a reminder of the great start to the museum. The first few galleries of the museum are very interesting with some fantastic exhibits.
What makes those sections so good is the melding of social and transport histories - perhaps more of this in the last couple of galleries would make the museum excellent all round.
Rachel Souhami is a freelance curator and a lecturer in science communication at Imperial College London
But a visit to the newly revamped London Transport Museum will show them that this is nothing new: Londoners have been whinging about the city's transport system for the past 200 years.
The museum has just reopened after a two-year redevelopment that cost £22.4m. The money has been spent well, as for the most part it ably intertwines the history of London's transport system with the history of the city itself, showing how the two grew together, while using some beautiful objects to support its themes.
The visit starts in the World Cities gallery, really more of a walkway, where groups of small monitors, set into a large graphic wall, show audiovisuals of the transport systems of six cities: London, Delhi, New York, Paris, Shanghai and Tokyo.
It's very nicely done, as the films show a traveller's perspective of the city streets, stations and transport, and, more often than not, the sardine-like nature of getting about. There's no commentary, just ambient noise, though this can veer into the cheesy, such as the accordion music on the Paris metro clips.
The overall effect is informative: if you watch for long enough - and many visitors do stop - you can get a feeling for the similarities and differences of the systems in very diverse parts of the world.
Omnibuses and all
The walkway directs visitors to a lift that takes them up to the second floor where the museum starts in earnest. Visitors step out of the lift into an area that explores London transport in the 19th century.
A large graphic shows the physical size and the population of London in 1800 and 1901: the latter grew from less than 1 million people at the 1801 census to more than 4.5 million in 1901.
The subsequent gallery gives a chronological account of how the transport system developed alongside the city over this period. It focuses on three transport methods: the river, road and railways.
The buses are the pièce de resistance, with three beautifully restored omnibuses displayed in the centre of the room. These stunning objects are shown in a way that allows visitors to get an impression of what travel conditions might have been like: the first omnibus looks very plush, but riding on the top of the knifeboard carriage must have been a bit hair-raising.
Elsewhere, small models show other modes of transport, and well-designed and informative touchscreens make use of the museum's rich archive of engravings, photos, posters and other images.
Interwoven among this material are the voices of the drivers, passengers and other commentators, as well as images of the development of the city. It makes for a fascinating account of the history of the city.
The gallery is not without its problems, though. Covering all three modes of transport means it is a thorough exhibition, but in a small space it feels a bit overwhelming.
This isn't helped by the fact that all the modes of transport are arranged in parallel, and in some cases are separated by screens, so to get the whole picture visitors have to double-back on themselves.
Some of the small models are reproductions of the restored omnibuses, which doesn't make sense: why look at a model when the real thing is right next to it? And the lovely prints that are used on graphic panels are not attributed or dated.
The combination of transport and social history continues on the next level with the development of the railways into London. With this came the beginnings of the steam-operated Metropolitan, District and Circle lines (now part of the tube), which aimed to connect the various mainline stations and provide commuter routes.
Again, there is a lot to take in, but there are also lovely train carriages from the period and it's great to be able to sit inside them rather than be presented with "don't touch" signs.
Routemaster nostalgia
So far visitors have been directed on a route that has a chronology of social and transport histories, but on the mezzanine the social history takes a back seat and the account becomes more technical. Somehow that seems a bit of an anti-climax.
There are quite extensive and interesting displays on the problems that had to be overcome to develop the tube - such as how to get people to street level and how to provide power - but then the story peters out with an announcement that the tube system stayed more-or-less the same from 1907 until the 1970s, when the Victoria line opened.
The last level (ground floor) is disappointing. It is the place where the really big objects such as double-decker buses are displayed, and they look great. But it is also a place that feels like an advertisement for Transport for London's latest ventures. A whole gamut of initiatives is covered by one exhibit each, giving a feeling of disjointedness.
Some schemes are barely mentioned: cycling seems to be represented only by a display of bikes, for example. And then there are some strange panels tucked in obscure places, like the one on a women bus driver - if you're going to tackle the subject of women working in this male-dominated occupation, surely it's worthy of more than a few photos and a bit of text hidden behind a pillar?
The exit brings visitors back to the World Cities walkway, which serves as a reminder of the great start to the museum. The first few galleries of the museum are very interesting with some fantastic exhibits.
What makes those sections so good is the melding of social and transport histories - perhaps more of this in the last couple of galleries would make the museum excellent all round.
Rachel Souhami is a freelance curator and a lecturer in science communication at Imperial College London
