Okay, this is purely a personal observation that I want my fellow forum members to check me on, and maybe the devs to note, depending on the reaction.
So, here's the setup: I was trying to play a Sandbox game on the Amsterdam map. Starting year: 1925. Starting cash: 50,000.
I tried playing this setup with bus lines about 5 times, but the buses always got caught up in gridlock traffic, and generally proved too slow. So I tried reverting to trams, seeing as they're much faster, and their tracks can be laid off of the streets, thus leaving parts of their route where traffic is not a concern. Unfortunately, although my tram lines did seem to work efficiently for a bit longer than the earlier buses, the same thing eventually happened: the city's main thoroughfares blocked up with masses of cars, meaning that my trams couldn't get through. Passengers started to complain about the long wait times, and there was nothing I could do about it.
This is not an isolated problem, either. I have had similar false starts in Helsinki, and even on the Tutorial Town map during the open beta.
The only transit method I've found that remains unaffected by the traffic woes is the Metro. By building your track below (and later above) the streets, you don't have to worry about the traffic jams. And, even moreso than buses or trams, the people seem to flock to new metro lines almost instantly. True, they're bloody expensive to build, but at this point I see no alternative.
It seems to me that the only way one can possibly do well with this game is to concentrate on building a deep-level (level 3) metro system, with maybe bus & tram lines to complement the metro stations... maybe.
And if truth be told, this really bothers me. What if I don't want to rely on metros? What if I don't have the money to build an expensive metro system? At the present, it seems that I'm stuck, because my buses & trams are useless once the traffic picks up... 5 minutes into play. So what am I supposed to do?
Please tell me other people have noticed this traffic bug/issue. Please feel free to tell your own sob stories in the hope that the devs will see this & work to correct this problem in the next patch.
So, here's the setup: I was trying to play a Sandbox game on the Amsterdam map. Starting year: 1925. Starting cash: 50,000.
I tried playing this setup with bus lines about 5 times, but the buses always got caught up in gridlock traffic, and generally proved too slow. So I tried reverting to trams, seeing as they're much faster, and their tracks can be laid off of the streets, thus leaving parts of their route where traffic is not a concern. Unfortunately, although my tram lines did seem to work efficiently for a bit longer than the earlier buses, the same thing eventually happened: the city's main thoroughfares blocked up with masses of cars, meaning that my trams couldn't get through. Passengers started to complain about the long wait times, and there was nothing I could do about it.
This is not an isolated problem, either. I have had similar false starts in Helsinki, and even on the Tutorial Town map during the open beta.
The only transit method I've found that remains unaffected by the traffic woes is the Metro. By building your track below (and later above) the streets, you don't have to worry about the traffic jams. And, even moreso than buses or trams, the people seem to flock to new metro lines almost instantly. True, they're bloody expensive to build, but at this point I see no alternative.
It seems to me that the only way one can possibly do well with this game is to concentrate on building a deep-level (level 3) metro system, with maybe bus & tram lines to complement the metro stations... maybe.
And if truth be told, this really bothers me. What if I don't want to rely on metros? What if I don't have the money to build an expensive metro system? At the present, it seems that I'm stuck, because my buses & trams are useless once the traffic picks up... 5 minutes into play. So what am I supposed to do?
Please tell me other people have noticed this traffic bug/issue. Please feel free to tell your own sob stories in the hope that the devs will see this & work to correct this problem in the next patch.
