What's every transit method best used for?

[thehandyman 11]

So I've had this game for the longest time but all I know is like putting avenues roads and highways is a great way to sustain a metropolis (to a degree). I feel like I don't have a good enough grasp of the knowledge of these transits and I think I'd be able to use transits better if I knew what they're best used for.

So far what I know:

Streets: low residential zoning

Roads: medium residential zoning

Avenues: Any zoning if you don't spam avenues

Rail: Industry and low/(medium?) residential transit

Highway: High residential and if used right can solve a lot of traffic problems?

Bus: less traffic congestion

Subway: less traffic congestion??

Airport: ???

Monorail: ???

RHW: ???

high speed rail: ???

Tram: ???

Bike path: ???

Ferries: ???

Canal: ???

There might or might not be some more that I don't remember. And the monorail to rail, and subway to rail transition, I have no idea what's the point of those.

[jason leo 485]

Subway, el-rail, and tram : Better for medium and big size cities, and all of them can be connected to become one very big network.

Bus : A must for all medium and big cities, IMO. This one is very essential, and better to use it around medium and high density R$ and R$$. (Also don't forget to make some other stops around the C and I area, so they can commute from their homes to their working places)

Ferries : Very useful for watered areas. If you're working with an archipelago, then it can be used for sims to commute from one island to another. This type of mass transit can be used for crossing rivers too.

Bike path, pedmall : The bikes will be recognized as pedestrian in the game.

HSR : A reskinned monorail. Actually, monorail is same with HSR.

Monorail : Just like el-rail, but you can't connect this one with subway and tram, but it is a bit faster. Btw, if you want to save as many as possible land, then I suggest you to use subway instead.

RHW : A kind of Highway kit that made by the NAM Team and it can be used to make more realistic highway than the Maxis one.

Highway/MHW : You are correct, but the main problem with this one is, all buildings will show the no-access zots if you try to grow all kind of buildings around it. This one, actually, can be used around rural areas, but with the more realistic RHW is now available, then I think the area will looks more realistic if you use RHW.

Rail : Actually, this one can be used for all kinds of areas, the main advantage is the cheap cost for the construction and the maintenance. Btw, using subway and tram is more recommended for big cities because this one takes quite some place.

Also don't forget with NWM and STR, NWM is a mod that enabling you to make larger roads. STR is a mod that enabling you to make single rail by reskinning the normal heavy rail.

I also suggest you to use RTMT so subway, tram, and bus stops will take less space. Btw, you must be careful, plopping it in the wrong place may cause abandonment.

[thehandyman 11]

Subway, el-rail, and tram : Better for medium and big size cities, and all of them can be connected to become one very big network.

Bus : A must for all medium and big cities, IMO. This one is very essential, and better to use it around medium and high density R$ and R$$. (Also don't forget to make some other stops around the C and I area, so they can commute from their homes to their working places)

Ferries : Very useful for watered areas. If you're working with an archipelago, then it can be used for sims to commute from one island to another. This type of mass transit can be used for crossing rivers too.

Bike path, pedmall : The bikes will be recognized as pedestrian in the game.

HSR : A reskinned monorail. Actually, monorail is same with HSR.

Monorail : Just like el-rail, but you can't connect this one with subway and tram, but it is a bit faster. Btw, if you want to save as many as possible land, then I suggest you to use subway instead.

RHW : A kind of Highway kit that made by the NAM Team and it can be used to make more realistic highway than the Maxis one.

Highway/MHW : You are correct, but the main problem with this one is, all buildings will show the no-access zots if you try to grow all kind of buildings around it. This one, actually, can be used around rural areas, but with the more realistic RHW is now available, then I think the area will looks more realistic if you use RHW.

Rail : Actually, this one can be used for all kinds of areas, the main advantage is the cheap cost for the construction and the maintenance. Btw, using subway and tram is more recommended for big cities because this one takes quite some place.

Also don't forget with NWM and STR, NWM is a mod that enabling you to make larger roads. STR is a mod that enabling you to make single rail by reskinning the normal heavy rail.

I also suggest you to use RTMT so subway, tram, and bus stops will take less space. Btw, you must be careful, plopping it in the wrong place may cause abandonment.

Cool! Didn't expect a quick answer. But I still don't get whats the point of transit change and what it's useful for. (Ex: rail to subway/subway to rail, avenue to highway/highway to avenue, etc. etc.) Also I have a fear of using one-way roads because I might end up making a mistake and make my sims get into frequent accidents. (Why must you be useful one-way roads...)

[jason leo 485]

Cool! Didn't expect a quick answer. But I still don't get whats the point of transit change and what it's useful for. (Ex: rail to subway/subway to rail, avenue to highway/highway to avenue, etc. etc.) Also I have a fear of using one-way roads because I might end up making a mistake and make my sims get into frequent accidents. (Why must you be useful one-way roads...)

Basically, transitions are used for connecting one type of road/mass transit network to another. Road/mass transit network-to-subway can be used for making tunnels easier than the maxis tunnel and the FLUP tunnels, it works like a functional eye-candy.

No need to worried at all when using one-way roads, as long as you can make your sims go to their working places and come back to their homes, then no problems supposedly happened. An example :

As long as there is a road that going to their working places and there is another one that going to their homes, then the one-way road will works. For neighbor connection, you must have two one-way roads, one heading to the neighbor city and the other one heading to your city.

[Jim14409 448]

Also I have a fear of using one-way roads because I might end up making a mistake and make my sims get into frequent accidents. (Why must you be useful one-way roads...)

One way roads are helpful in handling a larger volume of traffic. When you are considering using one way roads look at where they might be needed and ask yourself "Can I get where I need to go AND get back again? Jason gave a good example but I would add that all do not have to be one way roads as long as what the one way road leads to can handle the traffic volume. Just don't send your sims into a dead end one way road and they will be alright.

As for "frequent accidents" well if they drive like my Sims do their insurance premiums are probably through the roof already.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Subway/EL rail transitions are a normal urban thing. It is cheaper to build EL rail in real life, so when the subway reaches the edge of the urban pod, and conversion of EL rail makes sense, especially if this is continued over the border. Much less expensive to work on the surface when you don't have to do all that tunnelling or cut-and-cover.

Monorail is really for long hauls at high speed between cities. It has the advantage that, with planning, it can properly terminate in the downtown making suburban living very possible with detached suburbs, even in another municipality (tile).

Heavy rail is the mother and father of both of these. Using modern electrically powered equipment, except for the real estate occupied it is probably the best universal transit system. The program allows for the separation of freight from passenger service at the expense of separate rail lines.

[SilverCyric 130]

When using your one-way roads, think of them like split avenues, or giant roundabouts. That helps me to lay them out correctly...

[thehandyman 11]

@jason leo

Thank you, that picture actually made it infinitely easier to understand. BTW did you make that picture yourself?

@Jim14409

No no I understand now. One-way roads = support beams to mass transit Speaking of through the roof, nobody's really explained when I should be using airports. I'm guessing they're the same as ferries but in air?

@A Nonny Moose

I still don't understand the concept of rail/subway though. How would the people make good use of it? Like aesthetically it doesn't make sense. A subway train comes out from underground from a subway network and a train just goes underground into the subway network? What?

@SilverCyric

Well when you're like me and place the avenues and roads all over the map before anything else (in a boring grid fashion aimed to grow a metropolis) you still get traffic problems and you get prompted to use one-way roads eventhough placing them where traffic is congested and zones are everywhere would destroy the griddy look and I really hate doing that.

[jason leo 485]

Thank you, that picture actually made it infinitely easier to understand. BTW did you make that picture yourself?

Yep, and two other example :

This will also work, because the residents can still go to their working place and then go back, though it will take a bit longer time because they who work area the C area must go through the I area when they are going to home and they who work around the I area must going through the C when they are going to work.

I think you will like this one, keep your city layout (griddy) and you can also handle the traffic problem. Btw, it can't be totally one-way roads, because there should be locations where sims can easily move from the road heading to one of the directions to the other one.

No no I understand now. One-way roads = support beams to mass transit Speaking of through the roof, nobody's really explained when I should be using airports. I'm guessing they're the same as ferries but in air?

Actually, airports are not very useful. Their main function is become a demand cap for C and also providing some jobs.

I still don't understand the concept of rail/subway though. How would the people make good use of it? Like aesthetically it doesn't make sense. A subway train comes out from underground from a subway network and a train just goes underground into the subway network? What?

It is something that called as eye-candy. Something that actually doesn't make sense, but useful and seems realistic. If you compare it with the real world, then it will be impossible for any train to suddenly change itself to a subway, but in the game, doing so can be useful for making better tunnels. Why ? Because if you use a maxis tunnel, then you will need a slope mod to make sure if the slope is steep enough for a tunnel to be created. And if you use the FLUP tunnel, there is a problem too, you can't make anything above the tunnel. With using transitions, the tunnel can be made easier because subway is located underground and there is no need to sacrificing some extra zone for a tunnel and no need to have any slope mod or hole digger lots.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

@A Nonny Moose

I still don't understand the concept of rail/subway though. How would the people make good use of it? Like aesthetically it doesn't make sense. A subway train comes out from underground from a subway network and a train just goes underground into the subway network? What?

OK, here is a more concrete example. I often make several towns and perhaps a larger city on a single tile. The idea is that the CBD is in the larger centre and the others are bedroom municipalities. This is a common occurrence where I live.

Now, the central city has a lot of traffic and needs a subway to help people get around. However, all that cut and cover is not justified on the legs of the transportation system joining the relatively distant bedroom towns, so one hooks the detached suburbs to the business district by use of elevated rail (cheaper than monorail, and you don't need to change trains) with either elevated rail (easy to do in the game) or Ground Light Rail (GLR) with transitions to the subway at the appropriate points entering the bigger city.

The bedroom towns generally have a bus system to get them to the EL station. The EL station should also have a parking garage for the convenience of those not on bus lines. I have one EL station off the STEX that incorporates a bus station. It even has a transport enabled arch to that you can pass a road through and build the parking garage behind the station.

If you have never lived in a really big city you don't necessarily see the various applications of the transport technologies. I lived in Toronto from 1959 to about 1995 almost continuously. Toronto has everything you can imagine except a long haul monorail.

[thehandyman 11]

@jason leo

I don't feel like I would use one-way roads as much.. I mean what would you do if you build dirty/medium industries and landfill in other cities to keep the pollution away from the "main" cities which have high density residential and commercial? I can't use one-way roads and connect them to other cities, the game doesn't let me. I have to use avenues (which makes more sense now that I think about it), and since "main" cities need highways railroads subway stations and bus stops.

So the subway/rail transition is used to save space in summary?

@A Nonny Moose

Well I haven't been to Toronto (sadly nobody wants to go since it's a 7 hour drive) but I know that everytime I go downtown it's insanely packed and there are just bus stops, subway stations, and avenues. Not a railroad in sight either, which brings me to the question. What kind of role would a run of the mill railroad or elevated rail play in a gigantic metropolis? Besides being turned into a subway network to save space. (I hope I am interpreting this well) Also would it jive well with a monorail or would the monorail just render the railroads useless in the big metropolis?

[Turjan 1,048]

What kind of role would a run of the mill railroad or elevated rail play in a gigantic metropolis? Besides being turned into a subway network to save space. (I hope I am interpreting this well)

Many big cities have this combination (New York, London, Berlin). Elevated rail is much cheaper to build than subway. That's also the reason why you have transitions from elevated rail to subway. The elevated rails are most of the time older, from times when the transport authorities could still buy affordable land for that purpose. The next cheapest solution is to build under the roads. The most expensive way is to build very deep under buildings, but that needs rsecuring the right of way through private land.

Run of the mill rails are one of the backbones of transportation concepts in areas like the NE corridor in the US (Boston, New York, Philadelphis, Baltimore, Washington) or London. In the very dense city area, these either go elevated or sometimes underground.

I always liked this image: https://imgur.com/rI0Uw

You have a canal as the lowest level, with the roads just slightly higher. The image is taken from a road bridge. You look at the standard heavy rail crossing the canal and the roads, here elvated for this purpose. The normal trains go to a railway terminus, while the trains from the suburbs will go underground after the next station. On the top level, you have the subway, here elevated. It will go on through that house, to a station, through another house into a tunnel.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

@A Nonny Moose

Well I haven't been to Toronto (sadly nobody wants to go since it's a 7 hour drive) but I know that everytime I go downtown it's insanely packed and there are just bus stops, subway stations, and avenues. Not a railroad in sight either, which brings me to the question. What kind of role would a run of the mill railroad or elevated rail play in a gigantic metropolis? Besides being turned into a subway network to save space. (I hope I am interpreting this well) Also would it jive well with a monorail or would the monorail just render the railroads useless in the big metropolis?

Toronto's heavy ground rail has only one terminal in Toronto, Union Station. It is connected to the intercity tracks and handles passenger services for:

Via Rail - Intercity rail service+

GO Transit - self-propelled cars that are used between cities in the Golden Horseshoe, and go as far as Barrie in the north, Hamilton to the west and Oshawa on the east. These are heavy rail cars running on the Via tracks.

Toronto Transit Commission Subway - a station is connected by tunnels to Union.

Toronto has Ground Light Rail or Street car service in the downtown. This supplements the subway which has limited access. There is also bus service, including electric trolley buses as well as regular motorized buses. The trolly buses are being phased out.

The subway includes not only underground service but connects to a GLR service that runs east to the Scarborough town centre. You have to change trains between the two as I recall. It has been over ten years since I rode this service.

The actual subway has two north-south lines and two east west lines. The two north south lines are connected in a U and run mainly north-south on Yonge Street from Union to the edge of the 905 region and on University Avenue until it takes a north westerly branch that takes it nearly (or by now maybe even) to Pearson International Airport. One East-West line runs along Bloor St/Danforth Avenue with crosses at both branches of the North South line. About the time I moved out of the city, there was another east-west line under construction along Sheppard Avenue. I don't know if this ever got into service, but considering the need, it probably is happily running as well by now.

And the city is also full of taxicabs and bicycle messengers as well as courier delivery services, making the downtown area the usual mess you find in any people heap. The area south of Dundas Street to the lakeshore and between Bathurst Street and Leslie Street is fairly well controlled, but it is still the central mess. To make matters worse the elevated Gardner Express Way leads from the end of the Queen Elizabeth Way to the Don Valley parkway across the harbour front with ramps on to the main drags. The Don Valley Parkway is often referred to as the Don Valley Parking Lot. Wise drivers heading downtown use the Bayview Avenue extension to Rosedale Valley Road for uptown, and to Eastern Avenue for downtown. Only savvy residents and taxicabs use this.

[thehandyman 11]

@Turjan

If someone can recreate that picture in SC4 that would be awesome. So elevated rails are just as useful as subway but a cheaper alternative. Thanks for clarifying that. I feel like I should quote this since it would help other people aswell.

In the very dense city area, railroads either go elevated or sometimes underground.

@A Nonny Moose

That is kind of dumb that they would limit subway access. If you take the subway route you're car is either parked downtown or at home which means less traffic and a crap load of people occupying the sidewalks rather then block full of cars waiting on a traffic light. I mean that's how it is in Chinatown Montreal anyway. Anyway I feel like this is derailing us from the actual topic which is SC4. Wouldn't want a moderator to move this topic to another thread.

[gviper 922]

So what population levels denote small, medium, large very large and metropolis sizes? I understand this is very subjective but an idea would be nice. Or better yet an idea at which city sizes to develop which type of mass transit for your citizens.

[Indiana Joe 1,750]

So what population levels denote small, medium, large very large and metropolis sizes? I understand this is very subjective but an idea would be nice. Or better yet an idea at which city sizes to develop which type of mass transit for your citizens.

 

It's very, very subjective.  But I'd say, very roughly, 40k is when your city becomes a small metropolis, 80k is when it becomes medium, and 120k (125?) is when it becomes large (that's when the last rewards become available).

 

Since the maximum possible population on a city tile is several million, it's hard to say what very large is.  Such large cities need intense mass transit systems.

 

Mass transit all depends on what you want to do.  You can make anything work in almost any situation; the game's really, really flexible.  You can have subways in your farm town if you really want, or try to build a huge, dense city off of heavy rail.

 

Usually buses are a good place to start.  Subway is expensive and can be saved until your city is very big since it doesn't take up much space (no space at all with the Roadtop Mass Transit mod).  Monorail is probably the most neglected network, but it's very fast.  Elevated rail is useful in medium to large cities, if you have the space.  Heavy rail is usually best left for industrial purposes, but can move larger amounts of passengers than most of the other systems.

 

And that's not even getting into the extra systems provided by the Network Addon Mod, like ground light rail, trams, high speed rail....

[Mr_Maison 2,426]

Also remember that you can zone any density type for any road type. An avenue does not necessarily have to have high density zoning.

[Pinstar 13]

I know it isn't rail based...but what are people's thoughts on highways?

[ROFLyoshi 1,760]

Lets say your roads to downtown are congested. You can build a highway which takes a similar route. Like real life, they CAN (not always so) be less congested due to controlled, limited access interchanges and support higher speeds due to design.

So hopefully Sims will use them as an alternative as they are faster, plus they have higher capacity.

Due to the price, I would not recommend using them unless you have an important commute corridor, or your existing roads cannot handle the current levels.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

I know it isn't rail based...but what are people's thoughts on highways?

Generally, I keep highways out of urban centres.  If you need higher capacity use NWM.  I haven't fully checked out the NWM stuff in V31 but it should be OK.  Highways can be helpful if you get an overload at a neighbour connection but you may have to work some urban renewal on both sides to make this happen.

 

I have one tile that has highways all over it because it has several towns, all connected by Maxis highways.  I've found that RHW is too complex for what I am currently doing.  There are some interesting stack intersections that have been added by the NAM.