Subway layout

[hijodecordoba 74]

Hello Simtropolis members

I'm always wondering about how to lay out my subway system in a good functional way. are you using a grid or do you construct your system with the help of real life systems with maybe 4 - 5 different lines? because every time i get high dense residental buildings, i could open a station next to it. but that would lead to a "subway overcrowded city". I don't have problems with my subways, but it think it's a little unstructured

so how do you design your underground transportation network?

thanks for your comments

[simzebu 19]

It depends on what you want. You can use a realistic layout if you want realism, or a grid layout for maximum function. I prefer realism, but I used to like function. It's entirely your choice.

[Mclehr 0]

     You pretty much answered your own question.  Grid with as many stops as possible is the most effective, with bus and or other transportation stop near you sub entrances.  every 10-12 tiles a station since most people agree sims only walk 6-8 tiles average. 

      But as you also stated, grid is an unrealistic method, So i also use main lines from for ex. airport ----> downtown with stops at all major spots and from the high dens. residential to downtown, with like arteries branching off to sports complex etc.   It's really up to how you play you cities, as a "game" or for realism. Good Luck. 

[GreekMan 246]

i would have the RL way for that. have 4 or 5 lines and put them in high density areas

[Rochefort 13]

That is such a subjective question to answer hijodecordoba, as it will depend on playing styles and there are so many variations to that. The key principle is that your subway takes your sims from home to work via the shortest possible route...same theory for all transportation methods.

I personally build both grid and random layout styles depending on my mood, so my transport styles will vary.

If I'm using a grid pattern then I space my subway stations/bus stops approximately 12 tiles apart both vertically and horizontally as the space in between (6 tiles from each side) equates to the distance the average lazy idiot sim will walk.

If I'm working on a randon layout then I really do have to take notice of the traffic flow to get the transport routes correct. I'm usually not that precise, so most of my cities have some sort of traffic problem.

[hijodecordoba 74]

wow, if that ain't fast, what is? thanks a lot. i guess i want both - realistic (although my skills aren't good in compare to almost every other member in my opinion) and effective. so I gonna try to mix up my subway system. thank you all

!chao!

[Sketchley 0]

All the above answers are excellent.

For further optimisation, I suggest placing the subway lines to compliment the main streets, roads and avenues (running underneath, or parallel), as well as contrasting the main arteries of your city (if you have a grid layout, this means running the subway lines underneath the grid squares to the opposite corner (turning the grids into triangles.))

The most important thing you can do is do a route query - where are the majority of the sims coming from, and going to, on the busiest roads. If you can provide a direct link between those two locations, than the sims are more likely to take the subway.

[castironpigeon 1]

You can combine a grid-like pattern with realism and have a very efficient subway system. Real life subways are organized by 'lines' or routes. What you can do to keep that while maximizing efficiency is to place subway tunnels in lines from the edges of your city in toward your downtown areas. These lines don't cross in a grid-like pattern, but they can be predominantly straight lines to maximize speed and efficiency. Downtown the lines can cross at large subway interchange stations.

[neongamer 3]

An efficient subway system could be having a few 'hub' stations, then having lines sprouting from them all over your city. Much like an airline would use a 'hub and spoke' system .

[Constantina 5]

I would avoid90 degree turns if possible because they are unrealistic.

[BikerJ 0]

I lay my subway lines along the most car and bus traffic congested routes. In the initial layout of the city, I try to reserve one corner of every street intersection for a bus and subway stop. I don't necessarily install them on initial layout, but I'll either leave the two parcels vacant, zone the block so that only single parcel structures can grow there, or place small parks on the location. That way if the corner develops skyscrapers, hence increasing demand, the bus and/or subway are ready for installation. Combining bus, subway, train, and monorail stations opposite or adjacent to one another integrates the transit system.

[isc91142 0]

could anybody plz post a couple screenshots of their subway systems - like their normal city view + subway view + transportation view???

that'd be awesome. thx for the help...

[JameiLei 0]

i apologise in advance for the extremely crude diagram

anyway this is my current city i'm working on, and rather than try to produce eye-candy and no flow, i'm trying to create a city  where major congestion is alleviated  while preserving the original capacity limits (commute speed is 10x as sims were refusing to goto work)

anyway on with the diagram.

Box colours are zoned areas. Blue represents major road or highway, red is subway.

As you can see i've done a mixture of both - the lines hug the main roads. However, not always. The system is designed for maximum coverage of the commercial area, which easilly gets overloaded with cars and buses among the skyscrapers. Also i've relieved congestion at the 5-way road junction by placing stations where the line crosses the road before the intersection. I find the Ninja Boulevard Station very useful for this as it allows cars and buses to change to subway.

From your pictures, i can see you're trying to achieve maximum coverage with the subway system. However, in reality Subways are expensive - buses are much cheaper. Therefore I only use subways when theres congestion to be avoided - upwards of 10,000 commuters are not uncommon on my lines (remember that public transport commute time is not affected by congestion).

Edit: I'll post some images next time.

[sendarrow 3]

I always layout my cities using grids. So my subways, the run under the grids with stops every 2 blocks.