Munich is the capital of Bavaria and is the third largest city in Germany. The city is home to 1.3 million people and has one of the most comprehensive metro and suburban train networks in Germany. The Munich metropolitan area has a population of 2.9 million people. Population densities vary from 16,000 inhabitants per km² in the centre to 2,000 per km² on the outskirts. Car ownership levels are 530 cars per 1,000 inhabitants. There has been a shift of population toward the metropolitan areas since 1972, which meant greater commuter traffic. However, between 1997 and 2001 due to positive public transport initiatives the trend was being reversed and the number of public transport trips increased from 533 million per year to 561 million per year.

Sydney is the capital of the state of New South Wales, on the east coast of Australia. The city has a population of 4 million and a very comprehensive public transport system. Upgrades on many services occurred in preparation for Sydney hosting the Olympic Games in 2000. Modes of public transport in Sydney include: Monorail: The Metro Monorail was opened in July 1988. It is one of only a few above-ground rail systems in the world that operates through the heart of a major city. The elevated circle line was a gift to Sydney in celebration of Australia's Bicentennial and is now one of the most popular ways of getting about, moving over 4 million passengers per year between Darling Harbour and the city centre.

Berlin was restored as the German capital right after the unification of the two German states in 1990. The city has approximately 3.5 million inhabitants. Public transport in Berlin is well developed. There are nine underground lines, 15 suburban train lines and about 150 bus lines. 28 tram lines operate in the eastern part of Berlin. Many buses and some subways and city-trains run a night service. The double-decker buses serve a citywide network of 1,917km. The local public transport network is supplemented by 371km of tram lines, 151km of underground railways (U-Bahn) and 321km of suburban train services. The rapid transit network actually consists of two independent systems, the U-Bahn and the S-Bahn.