Christian Wolmar, a transport historian, points out that there has been advertising on the system since its earliest days: photos from the late 19th century show cards inside train carriages advertising domestic products.
Stephen Glaister, a transport economist at Imperial College, points out the implications.
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Paul Barter of the Sustainable Transport Action Network, in Kuala Lumpur, points out that in Asia only a handful of large cities, such as Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong and (at least until a couple of years ago) Seoul, have succeeded in containing congestion.
The question of who contributes what to health-care provision was one of the chief sticking points that prompted New York's transport workers to strike in December.
Paul Stevens of Chatham House points out that in the early 1950s transport accounted for a third of the cost of Persian Gulf oil shipped to America.
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This is the time saved by those people using high speed instead of medium speed (and the current rail network between the proposed points is medium, not low, speed) transport.
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The public transport data features railways, tram and bus lines, stops, stations and access points.
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Funding cuts meant Transport for London's (TfL) contribution was scaled back from 2, 500 charging points to 1, 300 due by 2013.
Transport Scotland's Plugged-in Places project provides 100% funding to buy domestic charging points, which will be installed by energy firm SSE.
The new transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin has told the Conservative Party conference the government plans to improve 57 problem points on roads in England.
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For Labour Maria Eagle, shadow transport secretary, said the government was on track to miss their target of 8, 500 charging points for electric vehicles by 2013 and "local councils across the country are already struggling after the Government slashed local transport funding".
We will see - there are plenty more economic and environmental points to be made - and the over-arching argument to be had about whether or not public transport in itself is compatible with the rugged individualism of the American way.
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