.Urban Transportation

Some
more equal
than others

The first urban transit services were expensive. In Barcelona in the early 19^th century, up to 10% of a worker's salary went on travel. It was only when season tickets and lower fares were introduced that they gradually became accessible to everyone.

Yet sharing did not necessarily mean mixing and strict observance of the social hierarchy was de rigueur for a long time. The London Underground originally had three classes, with wooden benches at one end of the spectrum and padded seats at the other. In Paris, an attempt to do away with 1st class in 1948 failed miserably and it was not finally phased out until the 1990s.