Reverse Lines

[Kruel]

Hi, i am curious if you are using reverse lines in your game or not? I usually build my tram/bus stops only on one side of the road right/left, depend on how many lines i already have. But i actually never build reverse line.

For example:
Line A - Bus Hub - City centre - Residencial Area - Factories
Line B - Bus Hub - Factories - Residencial Area - City Centre

Is it worth to have both lines ? Like i said i usually build only Line A. Do you guys have reverse lines?

[aristoprat]

If your lines only go one way, then someone who wants to go from the Factories to the Residential Area (your example, Line A) will occupy a seat someone else may use for almost the entire route. Adding the reverse line and they go just one stop.

[genemead]

I always build a reverse bus line, meaning I make one loop of the town CW, then again CCW, starting at the bus station. Yep, a single line makes 2 loops of the town.

[Joman]

The game is quite realistic. So a reverse line is needed.

[Kruel]

Ok i give it a try. And i will see ;)

[Netizen]

I do it like it's usually done in the real world - the same line goes both ways between two end points: A -> B -> C -> D -> C -> B -> A

[Saint Landwalker]

If I'm making "loop" routes, I always try to have reversed duplicates, for the reasons mentioned above.

But I also generally try to avoid "loop" routes as a whole. I prefer linear routes the way that Netizen refers to, and then just have perpendicular "grids" of straight-ish lines. For very small towns, though, I might do a small circuit route just to prime the passenger transportation. Once the town grows enough, I'll replace that with linear-grid lines.

[SBGaming]

To setup passenger routes you want to understand how passengers travel. They always go from Residential to Commercial/Industrial and then back to Residential before deciding where to take their next trip.

Thus, if you are setting up a route that takes a person from Point A to Point B efficiently, you'd also want to have a route that allows them to go back from Point B to Point A as efficiently, rather than having to go to Point C, D, E, before getting back to Point A.

So, either an A-B-C-D-C-B route or,
two routes that do A-B-C-D and D-C-B-A

I tend to do the former and have the line cross the city in as direct as a route as possible. Loops such as the later have the problem where if someone wants to go from B to D around a circle, you get paid as though they went direct, as opposed to the distance they spent on the bus, meaning you make less money and pay more in running costs for the time they spent on the bus.

When you understand the paths passengers take and how it affects your income/expenses you can setup local bus routes that will draw passengers and make a profit, rather than constantly running at a loss. Most players throw down lines as loss leaders in order to get people to their more profitable intercity routes, but not only can you do that, but you can also make those local lines profitable.

[jbrowes]

I tend to build my bus routes starting at a bus station (next to a train station)
and go a-b-c-d-e-d-c-b-a. Is this a reasonable layout?

[Kruel]

Ok thx for all tips and ideas, i will stick with loop routes for now, i will just add reverse lines and i will see if it will be profitable. So far all my lines are profitable so i guess it should split profit with reverse line.

Once i will connect new cities i will try linear routes and i will see if i like them more or not :D So far i am fine with loop routes.

Btw can some of you post some example of "advanced" system of linear routes ? Ty

[Kruel]

Originally posted by jbrowes:

I tend to build my bus routes starting at a bus station (next to a train station)
and go a-b-c-d-e-d-c-b-a. Is this a reasonable layout?

Depends on what others said, this solution is reasonable ;)