The bus system looks like a lot of fun. Too bad it's only for subscribers.
Mass transit is absolutlely vital in a modern city-building game. For me, it's the most enjoyable aspect of city-building.
It should be in any self-respecting modern city simulator to start with. But, barring that, releasing it later as payware, while by no means optimal, would still be something I could live with.
But expecting a monthly fee for something so basic is beyond the pale. If I were to buy this game and subscribe, in 12 months (with the new pricing scheme), I would have effectvely bought the game 4 times over just to have the privilege of access to something which should have been included from the start.
As such, I won't be buying Cities XL until this content is available as a conventional payware add-on.