hard to find a use for the other transport methods

[Hugh]

Roads, bus stops and subways are all I've ever really used. I have used trains, raised rail and monorails before but i forced myself to use them.
Are there any actual benefits to using the other transport methods that aren't provided by bus or subway? Because I can't find any. So what's the point?

[dixiechow]

I agree. Roads, bus and subways have always worked just fine for me. The other transportation methods are just sort of fun. I like to use trains in the smaller cities in my region.

[Stracci909]

Rail is best suited for long distance passenger travel. It can also be utilized pretty well to transport freight across city borders. El-rail is the same network as subways, so its use is essentially a cosmetic one - do you prefer the Chicago-like above road trains or standard subways. Personally, I have found little use for monorails, but like trains, they're good for quick long distance passenger transport with few stops in between. Imagine bullet trains - they're high speed but expensive.

[Hugh]

Originally posted by Stracci909:

Rail is best suited for long distance passenger travel. It can also be utilized pretty well to transport freight across city borders. El-rail is the same network as subways, so its use is essentially a cosmetic one - do you prefer the Chicago-like above road trains or standard subways. Personally, I have found little use for monorails, but like trains, they're good for quick long distance passenger transport with few stops in between. Imagine bullet trains - they're high speed but expensive.

So i should have some monorails/rail in my cities just with larger networks

[Stracci909]

You dont have to. That's the beauty of the game - just play around and see what works best for you and your cities. There really is no definite answer about what transportation networks one should use.

[MGB]

Originally posted by Stracci909:

Rail is best suited for long distance passenger travel. It can also be utilized pretty well to transport freight across city borders.

Actually, Monorail is most suited to inter-city (across border) travel. In fact it's designed such that when shorter distances between stations are made, it won't really be used by sims. But it's higher speed will mean sims will prefer to use it over the much slower Rail network for long journeys. So it's a useful part of the overall transport mix.

Rail is an intermediate, short hops on rail are perfectly acceptable for the game and work well. Of course Rail has the benefit of taking freight too, if you desire.

El-Rail, Subway (and GLR if NAM is installed) are basically all one and the same network. Only Subway is Underground, GLR (Ground Light Rail = Trams) is at ground level, whilst El-Rail is the raised version of the network. These networks are much better suited to small distances between stations for short hops around a city.

Bear in mind the original game's traffic simulator is hideously broken. The solution is to install the Network Addon Mon (NAM), which has a fixed version, Simulator Z. Whilst the NAM is a huge package of mods, you can just install a basic version with the new simulator and other various fixes. If you install only one mod, make it the NAM:

https://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/26793-network-addon-mod-nam-for-windows-installer/

Disclaimer - I'm a NAM developer

[OnceUponaTime]

Originally posted by MGB:

Originally posted by Stracci909:

Disclaimer - I'm a NAM developer

you are mgb204? I just got sc4 (ahhh the fond memories of sc3k, one of my first vidgames ever) and know I'm gonna appreciate the NAM mod, so thanks in advance

[MGB]

Yup, indeed I am MGB204 / RSC204 in the SC4 community. Would be nice to have one consistent user name, but what ya gonna do!

[Auron FFX]

ive also heard that richer sims won't use buses. I just found the NAM and it seems to have fixed the naggy adviser freaking out over every traffic jam.

[MGB]

By default, there is a % of sims for each wealth level that always prefer to use their car. The NAM defaults (Medium Traffic Simulator) are:
Mass Transit / Car / Fastest
R$ 50 / 50 / 0
R$$ 20 / 70 / 10
R$$$ 10 / 80 / 10
However, this varies depending on the simulator used. You can also customise it fully using the Traffic Simulator Configuration Tool (TSCT) that comes with NAM.