I remember London public transportation used to be shit and expensive. Disregarding his later downfall, Ken Levingstone did a tremendous job during his tenure as mayor, with Oyster card, introducing the congestion (which subsidises TfL) and convincing the train companies to jump in the scheme as well.
If I remember correctly, one of the reasons public transportation outside london is so poor in comparison is that councils outside London are not allowed to subsidise it the same way London is. They are also forced to use private operators.