Sim City Taxi Service

[redwingsfan19 0]

Why haven't the Sim City creators ever made a taxi service for their games to compliment the bus service? I would think that would be natural for any good sized city and would help decrease traffic quite a bit.

[Nenitosoyyo 19]

That be cool if there was one, I think someone did make something like a taxi service, but not sure where it is on here

[Swamper77 90]

Red Wings Fan: Indeed, there is no functioning taxi service in the game. Taxis do appear in traffic and near specific lots, but the Sims can't actually use them like the bus system. Someone could probably make a mod that replaces the buses with taxis, but they will still be stopping at the bus stops. Not much can be done to make your request of a functioning taxi service a reality

@Azul Blue Aoi:

The file that you are referring to is on the STEX and is simply a transit-enabled lot that converts pedestrians to cars.

-Swamper77

[SockoJr53 51]

I suppose they figure taxis are usually operated by private firms, not by the city govt? Therefore they never included them under the many powers of the mayor? I dunno...

[redwingsfan19 0]

Yea I guess that's right. But I think someone should mod a good working taxi service that has a radius of where the taxis from a particular hub will go. If I knew how to make mods and had the means of making them I definitely would.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

There are many on the STEX.  Search with a key of Taxi

[Birdin 10]

The only traffic that's seriously simulated in SimCity 4 is commuter traffic. People don't take taxis to work. They're too expensive.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Originally posted by: Birdin The only traffic that's seriously simulated in SimCity 4 is commuter traffic. People don't take taxis to work. They're too expensive.quote>

Have any evidence for this?  What about people who arrive at an airport and need to get downtown to attend meetings?

[Birdin 10]

Originally posted by: N_O_Body

Originally posted by: Birdin The only traffic that's seriously simulated in SimCity 4 is commuter traffic. People don't take taxis to work. They're too expensive.quote>

Have any evidence for this?  What about people who arrive at an airport and need to get downtown to attend meetings?quote>

Evidence of the cost of a taxi?  Call any taxi company, you'll find it's like two bucks a mile, which is well over ten times the cost of fuel to drive yourself. 

People arriving at an airport who need to get to a meeting, while they are traveling within the city for work purposes, they aren't en route from their home to their primary place of employment, and aren't considered commuters; such trips are not simulated in SimCity anyway. 

Now, if SimCity were to actually include trips for business meetings (Co to Co) personal meetings (R to R) or shopping (R to Cs), then the argument might be a little different.  And I suppose there are probably a few high-powered execs that travel by air (or, unlikely, by some kind of mass transit) daily to some point near their office, and then take a taxi the rest of the way, but I think they're much more likely to hire a limousine.  And air travel isn't a commuter transit method in SC4. 

All in all, I wouldn't think more than a few rich oddballs would utilize a taxi every day to get to work.  So until SimCity begins simulating trips *other* than commuters, I don't think taxis figure into actual gameplay.  (OK, so they also simulate freight, but just barely; don't get me started on that...)  On the other hand, I have no quarrel with someone who wants to have more taxi automata on the screen, or even add a taxi-service building to the game.  But it shouldn't influence traffic simulation, because the game simply doesn't simulate the kind of trips that taxis typically serve. 

Limos would be interesting.  But that's just another "car" trip, so it doesn't affect the game numbers.  Still, I wonder if it would be possible to introduce limousines on the roads, based on what proportion of that traffic is high-wealth...

[Cob92 360]

Limos already drive on the roads. However, you mostly only see them is residential areas, since they are diluted into the masses once they hit the larger, more traveled roads.

[Pixelrage 34]

I've wanted this, too. Even if it's just an eye candy/taxi generator lot. Someone once posted a picture with a flood of taxis in one of their CJs, but I never knew how they did it.

[Cleaner475 150]

i would love to see a Taxi service in the game though

[Swamper77 90]

Cleaner,

The best we can do in that regard is replace the bus model with a taxi model and/or add extra taxis as "buses" to the game. Without access to the EXE, we can't add a functional taxi service to the game.

-Swamper77