Are trains not included in 'Free Public Transport' policy?

[Gurra09]

The reason I ask is because in my city, where a city-wide free public transport policy is applied, people prefer doing two or three bus exchanges to get from the city center out to one of my suburbs instead of taking the direct commuter train that I built. Or do they just prefer slower buses over faster trains?

Some people do take the train but it never runs with more than 50 passengers each time (and most often just around 30) while the buses overflow with people.

 

[Commandante]

Good question! I've been thinking the same thing.

 

[Kagemusha]

Considering that trains have the potential to transport your citizens to other cities (i.e. they can be inter city connections) I would assume that they aren´t affected by any policies you set for districts within your city (with other words ... yes, I guess, that only buses and metro are affected by said policy)

 

[CocoCincinnati]

I noticed something the other day that might relate to this. I had a bus stop and a metro stop outside the harbor and most of the people coming from the harbor would wait at the bus stop instead of using the metro which seemed odd. I removed the bus stop and most of them started using the metro instead which makes me wonder if the people will always choose one form over another if they both go to the same general area.

 

[RyanX]

Interestingly enough, I haven't really noticed an increase/decrease of commuters regardless of my policy on public transport monetization. I'm not sure how the system works, but to me it seems that 100% of people are willing to take the bus if it goes to where they want it to go, free or paid.

 

[Michaelchs]

I haven't tried free public transport but would like to share my way to run public transport. I've built 2 types of train line. One is ring line and a few suburb lines connecting to city centre.

Before the lines were built I used buses only. The problem was there were too many buses on the road causing traffic jam. And each bus can only take 30 passengers only which is not effective. Once the trains were in service I cut them into shorter routes connecting places with the nearest train station. So i've got >80% of the trains full and "ring line" is the most profitable.

 

[cRAGGLE]

I think the buses need a bit of work. I don't use them because they seem to hold cims up more than get them to places quicker.

 

[ItalianGuy]

I haven't tried free public transport but would like to share my way to run public transport. I've built 2 types of train line. One is ring line and a few suburb lines connecting to city centre.

Before the lines were built I used buses only. The problem was there were too many buses on the road causing traffic jam. And each bus can only take 30 passengers only which is not effective. Once the trains were in service I cut them into shorter routes connecting places with the nearest train station. So i've got >80% of the trains full and "ring line" is the most profitable.

Any particular reason you didn't do this with metro lines?

 

[barrygreybeard]

There is a difference between suburban trains, intercity trains and of course cargo trains. Suburban trains run on the routes you define in the same way you define bus routes, by making stops at the different stations. Intercity routes are the ones that come from outside to bring tourists in, they don't connect stations within your city, they only run from outside the city to one station then out again. The more stations you have the more tourists trains you have.

Now suburban trains are affected by the policies, you spend more on trains you get more suburban trains running between your stations. What I haven't found out yet is whether you also get more intercity tourist trains and cargo trains running.

One thing I have also noticed is the modded stations I have tried only function as suburban trains stations, they don't bring in tourists from outside.

Edit: Suburban trains can easily be 80%+ full, its the intercity tourist trains who only seem to have 10 or so passengers.

 

[youngzack]

I took a test. Between a big city with highrises and a suburban, divided by river. Both equally big in size, with same utilities, zones etc. I deleted all transport routes (Before this bus and metro had most passengers). Then i layed down one bus route, train route and metro route, with all stopping at same spot. The bus had to take a road around the river, while train and metro crossed over.
With the policy on and off, it didnt matter. Bus passengers was decreasing while train and metro actually rose by 10-15%. More cars was on the roads, less people walking, those who used to take bus would rather drive.

Verdict: The policy seem to work for everything. The only reason i would believe buses are preffered is because they got more stops then the train, and are usually more connected. I think Cims calculate travel distance same as they do with cars. So if a taking a bus is faster than taking train or the car, they will preffer the bus. But i think the nr. 1 priority is walking though.
This is my observation.

FYI, i tested this with fast time loop, while shuffling the policies on and off, (with transport mode) i started testing 1 train 1 bus, 1 metro. then after some times loops i doubled the train and metro, and tripled the bus. There result was as written above. Tested this for about 30-40min.

 

[Michaelchs]

Any particular reason you didn't do this with metro lines?

somehow I wanted to copy what it is in big cities in Japan like Tokyo and Osaka, where metro and railway are working together serving urban citizens.