Help and advice, re. all forms of transportation, please

[Bahger]

I'm loving this game and proud of my progress but the time has come for me to build certain transportation systems (buses, Metro, passenger and cargo trains) and because I have minimal time for trial-and-error, and because the information in the manual is pretty basic, I'd be very grateful for feedback about the following question. I apologise in advance for the length of this post; please feel free only to address the questions you have the time/inclination to answer. Thanks very much in anticipation.

- Metro:

Should this cover the whole city grid, or is there a different logic, i.e. what is the trade-off between the expense and the benefit? Will it significantly reduce car traffic? How expensive is it to acquire and maintain a city-wide (two-section ATM) Metro system?

- Free transportation:

How do I implement this? What are the costs and benefits? Is it independent of other systems of transportation?

- Buses

I tried this once but got in a tangle over placement and routes. Can you give me any tips re. how to organise an efficient bus network and what the benefits are?

- Trains:

This is important to me as I have pre-planned for a cargo and passenger train network but I have some questions:

- Do cargo and freight trains run on completely different, independent rail networks?

- Does, or should, a cargo network carry only one form of cargo and be orientated around that? I have a lumber business and intend to build another, more distant one. The lumber complex was exporting very efficiently by road (until a proliferation of educated citizens appears to have sabotaged the operation by causing a shortage of labor...) but I am not sure of the logic here; should I put a rail terminus near the southern lumber complex, make a station on the line at the northern complex and then lay rail as far as the border of the map in order to benefit from import and export of this commodity?

- Will all rail lines automatically provide two-way capability?

Knowing this stuff will really help me out and save time; thanks again.

(PS, just for chuckles, here is a screenshot of my city, with a beautiful church and synagogue placed next to each other in an urban space I have called Peace Plaza. Maybe someone will build a mosque and I'll put that there too.)

 

[afistfulofcrafts]

Buses: I try to make a route around each district first and then connect each district to a subway station which I usually put in the middle of them.

 

[JerkyJerry]

First, "minimal time for trial and error?
How dare you sir?! That is one of the most fun parts of the game. I suggest you get your priorities straight! You have a job? Quit it. You have a wife? Divorce. You have kids? Get a nanny. You have a life? CS is now your life!

OK, now that those issues are off my chest....................

Metro: I don't use it. Why? Boring. I can't see it so why bother? That is my attitude anyway. Someone else will have to help you with this and hopefully someone will.

Buses: Are needed as it is one of the requirements to help buildings upgrade. The biggest pitfall here is overlapping routes. Once that happens then the conga lines of buses appear and traffic just becomes so very unmanageable.

Trains: Cargo and freight trains would run on separate lines than passenger trains in my city if there was a need to have passenger trains. Since tourism is not working on any level there is really little need for passenger trains. Passenger trains are designed to bring tourists from outside your city into your city and since that currently does not happen having passenger trains is not something I would invest in if I were you with your limited time restrictions.
You have to watch your cargo terminals. If you see one being clogged by multiple trains, causing huge delivery truck traffic (while watching your export & import tab) it may very well be time to build another one. Not too close as to create additional unwanted traffic but not too far so that the two terminals do not compliment one another.

should I put a rail terminus near the southern lumber complex, make a station on the line at the northern complex and then lay rail as far as the border of the map in order to benefit from import and export of this commodity?

Are you the mayor or am I?
I would think you would want one but in my minds eye just where exactly is north & south on your map in your city? (Oh man I fell like bustin tonight!)

Rails do go both ways........................... however you have to watch for rail traffic. If you see a lot and trains are getting jammed then you may have to open up additional lines. Just like real life.

Your city looks good. Look in the assets on Steam as I think there are a couple of mosques. There is also a Buddha park (or two or three or four) and I believe a couple of different temple types so those might look good in that section of your city as well.

However, I digress
If you don't have much time playing the game then spend the little time you have experimenting. It is one of the most fun parts of the game. Take your time with it. You will enjoy your journey much more by taking your time.
Good questions and keep asking. There is usually someone around to give you all the help they can

Good Luck

 

[afistfulofcrafts]

Good questions and keep asking. There is usually someone around to give you all the help they can

Good Luck

Do you know a good wiki that explains where the resources are on the maps?

 

[JerkyJerry]

Do you mean oil, ore, forest and what the heck is the other one?
Well anyway it may come to me as I am typing
When you look at your map and you see a lot of trees all together that my friend is where you will zone your forest industry
When you look at your map and you see a big brown spot, that is where you will zone for industry and oil will come from
When you look at your map and you see a grey? area that is where you will zone for ore. Although I completely forgot what color ore is on the map. Black? Purple? I forgot.
They are just shaded colored areas that will be different than the green grass you see all over your map

There is a lot of posts on this forum about industry. Look here and do some reading. To be honest industry is extremely easy. I'm not saying it is a bad thing I'm just saying once you do it for the first time you will say to yourself "really? that was it?"

 

[afistfulofcrafts]

Do you mean oil, ore, forest and what the heck is the other one?
Well anyway it may come to me as I am typing
When you look at your map and you see a lot of trees all together that my friend is where you will zone your forest industry
When you look at your map and you see a big brown spot, that is where you will zone for industry and oil will come from
When you look at your map and you see a grey? area that is where you will zone for ore. Although I completely forgot what color ore is on the map. Black? Purple? I forgot.
They are just shaded colored areas that will be different than the green grass you see all over your map

There is a lot of posts on this forum about industry. Look here and do some reading. To be honest industry is extremely easy. I'm not saying it is a bad thing I'm just saying once you do it for the first time you will say to yourself "really? that was it?"

Thank you!

 

[JerkyJerry]

There are however pitfalls to industry that you will read about on this forum.
First (without using a mod) your oil and ore industries will bleed the ground dry in about 11 - 20 real time minutes depending on the speed at which you play.
Then of course once your ground runs dry those buildings that were once pulling them out of the ground will begin to import them. Which will bring in hundreds if not thousands of trucks to mess with your traffic and like most people, piss you off.
Forestry (and what the heck is the other one?) are renewable and will go on for as long as you want them to carry on.

Then there is the supply and demand aspect of importing/exporting and making and selling of goods. That part is far more complex and to me far more challenging.
Someone has posted an awesome chart and if I can find it I will link it here that will help you out greatly.

OH yeah FARMS! Man I hate farms. I never use them you know because this is a CITY BUILDER but there is a small but very vocal group that have been clamoring for farms since the day SC2013 was released and well here it is in CS. But that is just my opinion and I will catch some grief for posting it (as I always do).

I look for some posts now about industry and pass them onto you
Good Luck!

 

[Bahger]

There is a resources overlay in the top left menu. It's great, colour-coded and very clear. My farming and forestry zones have done well but now that my population is so educated I can't get enough workers and these industries are declining. I wish the devs would take a look at that.

 

[afistfulofcrafts]

There are however pitfalls to industry that you will read about on this forum.
First (without using a mod) your oil and ore industries will bleed the ground dry in about 11 - 20 real time minutes depending on the speed at which you play.
(...)

I look for some posts now about industry and pass them onto you
Good Luck!

I was wondering about that, I just unlocked advanced commercial and they were asking for goods and I don't know where they come from. Do I just need to upgrade my regular industry with parks and services and whatnots?

 

[JerkyJerry]

There is a resources overlay in the top left menu. It's great, colour-coded and very clear. My farming and forestry zones have done well but now that my population is so educated I can't get enough workers and these industries are declining. I wish the devs would take a look at that.

Hang on sparky
Educated cims will take those jobs only after all office & commercial jobs are filled
It is a tricky bit of the game. Educated cims are good as they provide less crime, fires, etc. In the big picture educated cims will save you money in the long run. The trick is getting them to work on the farms. Placing residential zones closer to the farms helps but not too close as cims are a finicky bunch and don't like noise or pollution.
There are some posts on this web site that provide some real good information.
I also believe that Flying Ross produced a video on this subject.
Actually look up FlyingRoss or Flying Ross here and you can find all of his helpful posts. He is also on the youtube so check him out there

 

[JerkyJerry]

Goods for commercial buildings (zones) get their goods from the industry or yellow zoned buildings. But if you are like me and don't want the yellow zoned pollution filled buildings all those goods to sell have to be imported by either trucks, cargo train terminals or cargo ships

 

[FireFlowerist]

Because I am lazy at explaining I just leave this here:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=420701698

Use it as a reference how to build metros, busses, trains, ships. I think I did pretty neat job with those

 

[Bahger]

Thanks for all your help. JerkyJerry.

I am going to develop a large forestry complex in a distant location north of my city, build a freight line to it and drop a bunch of low-density houses around it. There will be one elementary school so that these folks can learn their ABCs but that will be that so hopefully the lumber business will be able to draw on these rednecks for perpetual labor. Then I will be able to import all my lumber and get rid of the polluting forestry complex on the outskirts of my city. Do you think that will work? A bit of social engineering.

 

[JerkyJerry]

Thanks for all your help. JerkyJerry.

draw on these rednecks

Naw, your not looking for rednecks
You want to attract wood boogers! (rednecks that live in mountains or well the woods)

And do I think it will work? I think you are working on it and thinking about it and trying it so you are on the right path fer sure good buddy!

 

[blackether]

Cims will go to school if there is capacity anywhere in your city, not just if they are covered by the local building. This makes is very hard to contain/control the education level of any individual cim or group of cims. Even if you only provide them with an elementary school some will go to high school and college.

The simplest way to deal with education is to get as many people highly educated as you can and force job scarcity by not fulfilling demand for commercial or industrial. Cims will work jobs "beneath themselves" so to speak, in overeducated positions. This is crucial in maintaining specialized industry later into the game. Since they only have 1 level, you will pretty much be forced to have overeducated cims working there or they will just abandon due to "not enough workers".

Alternatively you can try and constrain education by not providing enough capacity. I don't suggest this, however, as it will become extremely tedious. Buildings won't upgrade unless there is enough school capacity at all levels (and at higher levels they also require some percentage of people in your city to have some level of education as well). Trying to constrain the education caps will mostly result in buildings complaining about not being able to upgrade, slowing growth, and preventing your city from bringing in tax dollars you would otherwise get from the higher level educated people living there.

Also know that your generic industry and your commercial will import a huge percentage of goods, and having 100x the number of imports than exports is actually quite sustainable. It is often easier to downsize your specialized industry in many cases so you aren't worrying about trying to find the low-ed workers for it.

 

[AmpsterMan]

My public transport usually follows my Road hierarchy. I place busses on Avenues leading to my bigger avenue and I make sure to Space them out well. Ex, i make sure the happiness circles don't overlap. Then, i'll place them in loops. I.e on a circular avenue and one lane going clockwise and the other anti clockwise i make sure that at least One stop connects on a metro square.

Metro acts like arterial road ways. The goal is movement from one district to another, usually residential/office to Commercial or Industry. These are usually placed along my busiest avenues and follow the arterial avenue very closely. Hopefully, a large portion of my populace uses this.

Last are Passanger trains, and again they fulfill the role of freeways. Freeways are for moving things in abd out of the city so i usually connect the passanger station in much the same way. A lone rail line going to the center of CBDs to allow tourists to get off and s

 

[Bahger]

This is really valuable advice, thanks so much. I am concerned that I will mess up transportation or paint myself into a corner because basically it's a form of math and that is just not how my mind works. All this information will save me time and from tearing what's left of my hair out so thanks again.

 

[AmpsterMan]

Heh i wouldn't say math as much as i would say logic (which is sort of math) and habit. Once you get into a style you feel comfortable with you'll improve.Key things to remember are: Buses for intradistrict metro for interdistrict trains for regional

 

[afistfulofcrafts]

Always remember that you can fix stuff later with enough money and better buildings. I am cleaning up my city and move entire districts around and make them more beautiful.

This is really valuable advice, thanks so much. I am concerned that I will mess up transportation or paint myself into a corner because basically it's a form of math and that is just not how my mind works. All this information will save me time and from tearing what's left of my hair out so thanks again.