Questions about Metro Use / Reducing Traffic?

[a three-colored carp]

- How far will a citizen walk to and from a metro station? My general observation has been that they'll walk to a station from 20-30 squares away.

- If the citizen needs to walk, let's say, 20 squares to get to the metro stop and their destination is 20 squares from their last metro stop, will they use their car instead?

- How can I best optimize the metro placement? Usually I put a stops in a highly dense residential areas, and put a stop in the industrial district or office district. But I've heard that each citizen visits an industrial zone and a commercial zone every day so should I put commercial zones next to the industrial zones?

- When it comes to setting the train schedule, I usually have a single train on a loop. I.E.: One train that stops at every metro stop once on its way there and once on its way back. Is there any purpose in having a train that skips every stop except the first and last, sort of like how express trains work in New York City?

Thanks for any help on this!

[MaxFX]

Not sure what you mean with the squares, but if you mean the 8M zoning squares, then the numbers you mention are way off. Cims will walk great distances across your city.

Cims are able/willing to walk more than a map tile distance to their desired location.

Besides that there's a certain public transport hierarchy when it comes to the distance between stops.

Busstops are closest together. (about 40-50 squares between stops)
Then come tram/monorail stops. (about 75-100 squares between stops)
Then metro (about 150 squares between stops)
Then train (about 200-220 squares between stops)

These numbers are open to interpretatin off course, and you should set your public transport up the way you like it.

Especially education buildings (high schools, universities, etc.) have a high demand for public transport, as well as office buildings.

Also interesting: https://skylines.paradoxwikis.com/Transportation#Trivia

[phonebook]

Originally posted by a three-colored carp:

-

- When it comes to setting the train schedule, I usually have a single train on a loop. I.E.: One train that stops at every metro stop once on its way there and once on its way back. Is there any purpose in having a train that skips every stop except the first and last, sort of like how express trains work in New York City?

Thanks for any help on this!

With metro or trams or trains or trolley busses or monorails, then ONLY of there is a shorter track around each intermediary station. The only way I can explain that better is to get you to build a metro line with say 8 stations along it. Then make 2 lines, one stopping at each station and the other going from one end of the line to the other. You'll see the slower train blocking the fast train every time they stop at the stations between first and last.

With busses however, well they can overtake each other, so have a ball with the point to point express services!

[BettyB]

I place metro stations in a rough 120u grid allowing for road locations. that puts every one and every thing in the city within 60u or less of at least two metro stations. all but eliminates automobile traffic.

[OneJasonBradly]

- pathways can extend the attraction radius of a metro station or any transit stop.
- normally I get bus lines to intersect metro stations for transfer purposes so the reach is even farther for a metro.
Metro station are loud so if placed on a residential setting I will place services (education, health and parks) to sound shield around them and add as many tress that can fit.

[WhiteKnight77]

Originally posted by OneJasonBradly:

- pathways can extend the attraction radius of a metro station or any transit stop.
- normally I get bus lines to intersect metro stations for transfer purposes so the reach is even farther for a metro.
Metro station are loud so if placed on a residential setting I will place services (education, health and parks) to sound shield around them and add as many tress that can fit.

There is a green metro station in the CCP featuring trains and metros earlier this year that are quiet and there are quiet metro stations on the Workshop as well.

[OneJasonBradly]

Originally posted by WhiteKnight77:

Originally posted by OneJasonBradly:

- pathways can extend the attraction radius of a metro station or any transit stop.
- normally I get bus lines to intersect metro stations for transfer purposes so the reach is even farther for a metro.
Metro station are loud so if placed on a residential setting I will place services (education, health and parks) to sound shield around them and add as many tress that can fit.

There is a green metro station in the CCP featuring trains and metros earlier this year that are quiet and there are quiet metro stations on the Workshop as well.

Yes I am aware. I in fact use quiet metro stations but because I really like using pedestrian pathways I often create these areas with my metros stations for residential or commercial areas. It is another way to get services closer to the people so they will use the path and transit more. I am aware of the workshop thank you.

[Sol]

Originally posted by OneJasonBradly:

- pathways can extend the attraction radius of a metro station or any transit stop.
- normally I get bus lines to intersect metro stations for transfer purposes so the reach is even farther for a metro.
Metro station are loud so if placed on a residential setting I will place services (education, health and parks) to sound shield around them and add as many tress that can fit.

You can also use Low Density Commercial to create the buffer if the area already has coverage from services.

[OneJasonBradly]

Originally posted by Professor Hardknocks:

Originally posted by OneJasonBradly:

- pathways can extend the attraction radius of a metro station or any transit stop.
- normally I get bus lines to intersect metro stations for transfer purposes so the reach is even farther for a metro.
Metro station are loud so if placed on a residential setting I will place services (education, health and parks) to sound shield around them and add as many tress that can fit.

You can also use Low Density Commercial to create the buffer if the area already has coverage from services.

:)

[Sol]

My Metro Stations are usually in the middle of a block, not at an intersection, and feature Bike/Walk paths to the other side of the block. There is usually a bus stop at the metro station. I like to put Metros near High Density Commercial, Park Areas, Campus Areas, etc. Anywhere I see a lot of people (especially tourists) collecting, or near Tourism districts.

I usually have one Transportation Hub with a Tram, Bus, Metro, Airport, anything else.

Trains: I start by looking at the map. If there is ONE rail line, or if the rail lines all connect into one system, I only use it for Cargo. If there are two rail lines that do not connect, I use one for Freight and one for People. Where possible, I feel better about Trams than Trains for longer distances (Trams are great for long distances, they pick up speed as they go). I love the look of Monorail but I rarely use it. It's expensive and less good than other modes. The best use is connecting very far away areas that otherwise would have few routes to travel. In these cases, it does remove some of that traffic from said intersections and go fast.

Trolley - I love them but don't get too much use of them. They excel at elevations, and don't really slow down when going up/down hill. On flat areas, trams are 100x better. Where I have roads going above highways, I tend to use a short trolley line because it gets over the humps faster. Normally, I use elevated highways so this doesn't happen too often.

Bus Stops - I try to make each Bus Line come from, and return to a bus stations. I try to have each Bus have 5 Stops, the 5th being a return to the station. I try to make sure lines go mostly straight (usually to areas my Metro can't get to).

[rcollin]

Citizens would walk across the entire 81 tiles (which is about 11 miles each side)

[Stealthy]

Metro stops are best placed between 64 and 100 tiles apart. That equals to about 500 to 800 meters which is typical real life distance. Between them, you can have 1 or 2 bus stops for your local feeder bus lines, or when providing local service with buses and express with metro. Tram stops in my cities are usually about 40-50 tiles apart.

Trains are typically 1km - 1.5km apart, which is 125 - 188 zoning tiles.

[mistermcd]

Using Metro Overhaul Mod you can change the station tracks to 4 wide with bypass tracks (or two extra stops on an island style stop) and then you can have 'express' trains that bypass a particular station and don't get blocked by a train already in the station. I also have bypass stations between the Metro depot and the main station where they branch out into the different lines to prevent a big stack up of trains when they first leave the depot.

Other really nice features of MOM are the ability to stretch, rotate, and raise / lower your station tracks. Gives you a LOT more control over the use of Metros. Highly recommended.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=816260433

McD

[_KC76_]

I seem to have a different approach than others, as I only place one Metro station per neighborhood .. I guess I should explain, I do not build from a center point outward, I build multiple small towns, that eventually grow in to a large city, so each "small town" or neighborhood, gets one metro stop, maybe two after expansion, but still spaced far apart. I then use Trams to move Cims down "main corridors", like down the main road, and one or two major routes thru the neighborhoods. Lastly, I use Buses to move Cims from their homes to the main corridors. I make my bus stops about every-other "block" (I try to keep my blocks about 10x12 to 13x16 squares in low residential areas). Think of it just like Road Hierarchy, but as Transport Hierarchy. Bus takes Cims to Tram line, which takes them to the Metro Station, which takes them to the next town over, or to a large industrial block, or an airport/ship terminal/train station for outside connections.
Edit: Also, I try not to put multiple "routes" on one set of Metro tracks. As was mentioned, this creates backups. I setup my Metros as "Out n Back" or point to point. If I need to place a station in another area, I try to change the connecting station to one with multiple tracks/platforms, and not have any route "share" a stop, or platform.

[General Tso]

Originally posted by Professor Hardknocks:

Originally posted by OneJasonBradly:

- pathways can extend the attraction radius of a metro station or any transit stop.
- normally I get bus lines to intersect metro stations for transfer purposes so the reach is even farther for a metro.
Metro station are loud so if placed on a residential setting I will place services (education, health and parks) to sound shield around them and add as many tress that can fit.

You can also use Low Density Commercial to create the buffer if the area already has coverage from services.

Is there a reason why I shouldn't use high density commercial in that situation? Or where you just mentioning low density because that's what you usually use?

[Stealthy]

Originally posted by General Tso:

Is there a reason why I shouldn't use high density commercial in that situation? Or where you just mentioning low density because that's what you usually use?

High density commercial creates lot of noise, which causes citizens to fall sick. Ideally one would use offices or low density commercial with "local produce only" specialisation to get noise free zones.