Was just playing a quick sandbox game on my newly purchased Paris map. Had a decent system set up; 4 metro lines (2 serving the apartments & railway stations north of the Seine, 1 serving the south & one connecting to the airport), as well as 3 bus lines (2 south of the river & 1 linking the railway stations on either bank). Unfortunately, it didn't take long for the bus lines to become popular, and before I knew it there were over 80 people waiting for a bus that could only take 14 & only moved at 30mph (or whatever unit of measurement the "Speed" stat represents).
It was only after I started replacing 2 of my bus routes with tram rail that I came to an epiphany, one that, to be honest, I've had many times before: Buses in CiM are totally useless! Or rather, they may have very limited uses, but in almost every regard they simply cannot compare to trams. Note that I was playing back in 1920, but even then the worst tram I could get would still carry about double the passengers (26, if memory serves, as opposed to 14) at double the speed (60 compared to 30). And the next better tram (the stylish double-decker that comes with the Paris expansion), while fairly slow at only 40, can carry a whopping 44 passengers!
For those confused by these seemingly erroneous stats, note that I am using the excellent Vehicles Redone Mod, without which I find the game to be borderline unplayable.
Sure, there are cons to trams. It costs money to build all those tracks for them, they cost more to run than buses. But overall, I find that the pros outweigh the cons every time.
And speaking of pros, add to the list that you can build tram tracks on tiles other than roads! While this can become a pain sometimes due to the occasionally questionable design of some maps, it means that 1. your tram lines can sometimes be shorter than your road-reliant buses, & more importantly 2. your trams can stay out of the traffic longer. This comes especially in handy on maps like Amsterdam, where even with the Private Traffic option turned down, I still find traffic jams emerging. Besides, with their higher carrying capacity & higher speeds, a good, busy tram line & pay for itself several times over with ease.
So where does this leave buses? Well, I have found some uses for them, but these mostly rely on their cheapness more than anything else. I've found them useful for serving low-density residential neighborhoods & places where it wouldn't be economical to use anything else, like those farms that you often find on the outskirts of town that laugh at your attempts to get 100% coverage. Also, on the Tutorial Town map, I've come up with a nifty 1-2 punch of bus & ferry to serve the airport (take a bus from the main terminal to a ferry dock next to the stadium, then a ferry to the railway station, where I always put my central transfer). But for densely packed areas, the downtown districts, the real money-makers, buses are totally out of their depth.
This is all one man's experiences though. I am sure there will be those on the board here that disagree with me, or have found different conclusions. I would like to encourage everyone who is interested to post their own anecdotes. I'll be interested to read what others have found.
It was only after I started replacing 2 of my bus routes with tram rail that I came to an epiphany, one that, to be honest, I've had many times before: Buses in CiM are totally useless! Or rather, they may have very limited uses, but in almost every regard they simply cannot compare to trams. Note that I was playing back in 1920, but even then the worst tram I could get would still carry about double the passengers (26, if memory serves, as opposed to 14) at double the speed (60 compared to 30). And the next better tram (the stylish double-decker that comes with the Paris expansion), while fairly slow at only 40, can carry a whopping 44 passengers!
For those confused by these seemingly erroneous stats, note that I am using the excellent Vehicles Redone Mod, without which I find the game to be borderline unplayable.
Sure, there are cons to trams. It costs money to build all those tracks for them, they cost more to run than buses. But overall, I find that the pros outweigh the cons every time.
And speaking of pros, add to the list that you can build tram tracks on tiles other than roads! While this can become a pain sometimes due to the occasionally questionable design of some maps, it means that 1. your tram lines can sometimes be shorter than your road-reliant buses, & more importantly 2. your trams can stay out of the traffic longer. This comes especially in handy on maps like Amsterdam, where even with the Private Traffic option turned down, I still find traffic jams emerging. Besides, with their higher carrying capacity & higher speeds, a good, busy tram line & pay for itself several times over with ease.
So where does this leave buses? Well, I have found some uses for them, but these mostly rely on their cheapness more than anything else. I've found them useful for serving low-density residential neighborhoods & places where it wouldn't be economical to use anything else, like those farms that you often find on the outskirts of town that laugh at your attempts to get 100% coverage. Also, on the Tutorial Town map, I've come up with a nifty 1-2 punch of bus & ferry to serve the airport (take a bus from the main terminal to a ferry dock next to the stadium, then a ferry to the railway station, where I always put my central transfer). But for densely packed areas, the downtown districts, the real money-makers, buses are totally out of their depth.
This is all one man's experiences though. I am sure there will be those on the board here that disagree with me, or have found different conclusions. I would like to encourage everyone who is interested to post their own anecdotes. I'll be interested to read what others have found.
