Bus vs metro usage

[Imhotep]

I built my metro system before I built my bus system. All metro lines have their own tracks and stations, so they're capable of a high capacity/number of trains.

Then I built a bus system. It's more comprehensive than the metro - nearly all major roads have a bus going down them.

Since I built the bus network, metro usage is just a fraction of what it was before, and the buses are so popular that the city is filled with buses, which are clogging up the streets. I seem to have more traffic problems since building the bus network, but with the same population.

What are the options to get my metro more used? The number of buses is just ridiculous.

[MaxFX]

Sounds like a positioning issue rather than a popularity contest between bus and metro.

Are your metro stations placed in area's with lots of residents, but not a lot of stuf residents want to go to? (i.e. going from one neighbourhood to the other, rather then going from a neighbourhood to a commercial district)?

Looks like your busses take these residents to where they want to go to. Remember, cims do not go and visit each other in this game, so connecting several residential areas is of no use to them. It was before because it was still the best/fastest way to get to their final destination. You've now givin them that with your busroutes.

Solution:
- Shorten the busroutes, make them go from your metro stations towards area's of interest.
- Reposition some of the metro stations towards area's with more commercial/leisure buildings.

If this is not the case, please provide some screenshots or post a savegame.

[Imhotep]

Maybe my bus lines are too long?

I have some long bus lines going from one side of the city to the other.

Maybe if I redesigned the bus network with shorter routes, and tried to set the routes so that they would act as localized feeders to the metro stations.

[MarkJohnson]

When I make a tourist trap, I usually use metro to loop around the attractions, then I use buses to move around residential shoppers to and from the tourist trap. I make sure to get a lot of specialized tourist commerce districts from After Dark DLC as they act as a hotel to keep your tourists in the city longer and spend more money.

I use passenger airport in the rear, flanked by passenger trains, with the passenger ship at the bay to shuffle tourist around then get them off the map at the passenger stations. This way it keeps traffic clear outside of the tourist trap area. And less traffic on your streets.

[Ripp]

On a 25 tile map I place metro 120u apart both ways in a grid. Then I connect all the stations together with pedestrian walkways. This places every citizen and every point of interest within 60u (easy walking distance)of at least two metro stations. My citizens don't even need a bus line. Just for effect however to satisfy the bus lovers in the crowd I will pick out a couple three hotspots and connect them to a bus stop near a couple of metro stations to easily handle any overflow.

[Simon]

I wouldn't worry too much. You can always manipulate the number of busses and metro. Buses in general are a bit more convenient if they're going where you need, while metro is quicker over longer distances. I found it better to have longer/larger metro lines, but having long cross-city bus routes isn't a problem either.

At the end of the day they compliment and support one another. Having metro lines near popular junctions, hubs and attractions (*especially* the space elevator/lift) helps as does having bus stops near your metro stations, and of course pedestrian paths to help walkability and PT uptake.

[Simon]

Originally posted by Xeyeld/holeymoe:

On a 25 tile map I place metro 120u apart both ways in a grid. Then I connect all the stations together with pedestrian walkways. This places every citizen and every point of interest within 60u (easy walking distance)of at least two metro stations. My citizens don't even need a bus line. Just for effect however to satisfy the bus lovers in the crowd I will pick out a couple three hotspots and connect them to a bus stop near a couple of metro stations to easily handle any overflow.

Got a pic of said city!

[Ripp]

Originally posted by Simon:

Originally posted by Xeyeld/holeymoe:

On a 25 tile map I place metro 120u apart both ways in a grid. Then I connect all the stations together with pedestrian walkways. This places every citizen and every point of interest within 60u (easy walking distance)of at least two metro stations. My citizens don't even need a bus line. Just for effect however to satisfy the bus lovers in the crowd I will pick out a couple three hotspots and connect them to a bus stop near a couple of metro stations to easily handle any overflow.

Got a pic of said city! :dssmile:

Yes I do. Thanks for asking.

[Imhotep]

My metro usage is about a third of what it was before I built the bus network.

My longest bus route, going from one side of the city to the other, has 42 stops with 54 vehicles, but it has many full buses and probably needs a dozen more vehicles to meet the demand. With shorter bus routes, I could make it so that a citizen might need to take three or so buses to cover the same distance. I presume that waiting for a bus is factored into the journey length calculation, so it would be less appealing to take a bus to get across the city, and would therefore encourage metro usage.

My initial bus system design was like its own network. I think I need to think about having a greater synergy between the bus and metro networks, so they operate together in a tiered system, with bus routes at the local level and metro at the city level.

[MarkJohnson]

I use much smaller bus lines. Buses don't seem to like long routes as they get full a lot and can't get any more passengers. Try splitting it in half and see if it improves.

But longer routes prefer train type stations. They typically hold more and run faster with fewer delays.

Also, be aware of where cims are coming from and going to. Be sure to click several cims at the stops and see where they are going and their cim type.

[OneJasonBradly]

Running/building a bus system after placing a metro would be difficult indeed. And it would do precisely as you found. For in many real life systems metro line are created to solve the issues of "The number of buses is just ridiculous." They evolve to solve a problem. Reversing this process would be a challenge because you would not find the natural route to solve rather try to back track. The reason for less metro use would be that the busses are getting them closer to their destination. They don't need to "metro hop" to get around now.
Don't get me wrong I have added bus lines after establishing the metro but these line are more "express" for the bus stop is overflowing with waiting passengers for a bus. Many times adding a bus or nine to solve an over loading bus stop is not the answer. Some times a express line with two busses to it can do so much more than adding 10 busses to the congested stop/line.

Behaviours of a good express bus.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2355063172

[Catratio]

I had the same problem. Built a good subway that was heavily used, then made just two bus lines branching off it and suddenly everyone preferred the buses over the subway and it made traffic worse. Just deleting the bus lines fixed it again. People seemed to prefer bus over any other form of transport so I had to deprive them of it for their own good.

[Imhotep]

Originally posted by OneJasonBradly:

The reason for less metro use would be that the busses are getting them closer to their destination.

Yeah, it's realistic for bus stops to be closer spaced to each other than metro stations, so bus stops can indeed get citizens closer to where they need to go.

Originally posted by Catratio:

I had the same problem. Built a good subway that was heavily used, then made just two bus lines branching off it and suddenly everyone preferred the buses over the subway and it made traffic worse. Just deleting the bus lines fixed it again. People seemed to prefer bus over any other form of transport so I had to deprive them of it for their own good.

I'll see how my reconceived bus network pans out.

If it doesn't work, then I might see if there's a mod to adjust ticket prices for different modes of mass transit, or something similar.

[Ripp]

Originally posted by Imhotep:

I built my metro system before I built my bus system. All metro lines have their own tracks and stations, so they're capable of a high capacity/number of trains.

Then I built a bus system. It's more comprehensive than the metro - nearly all major roads have a bus going down them.

Since I built the bus network, metro usage is just a fraction of what it was before, and the buses are so popular that the city is filled with buses, which are clogging up the streets. I seem to have more traffic problems since building the bus network, but with the same population.

What are the options to get my metro more used? The number of buses is just ridiculous.

If you don't like the way your buses effect transit maybe you need to rethink the way you deploy them. You set them up the way they are. You can change that any way and any time you want. Busses should always supplement your transit system they should never be permitted to push or compete with it. If "The number of buses seems ridiculous", there's no reason for you not to change it. It's your game. Make it play or operate the way you want it to. Making it play your way is what makes it a game. Otherwise it would only be a simulator and a rather poorly designed one at that.

[OneJasonBradly]

Originally posted by Xeyeld/holeymoe:

Originally posted by Imhotep:

I built my metro system before I built my bus system. All metro lines have their own tracks and stations, so they're capable of a high capacity/number of trains.

Then I built a bus system. It's more comprehensive than the metro - nearly all major roads have a bus going down them.

Since I built the bus network, metro usage is just a fraction of what it was before, and the buses are so popular that the city is filled with buses, which are clogging up the streets. I seem to have more traffic problems since building the bus network, but with the same population.

What are the options to get my metro more used? The number of buses is just ridiculous.

If you don't like the way your buses effect transit maybe you need to rethink the way you deploy them. You set them up the way they are. You can change that any way and any time you want. Busses should always supplement your transit system they should never be permitted to push or compete with it. If "The number of buses seems ridiculous", there's no reason for you not to change it. It's your game. Make it play or operate the way you want it to. Making it play your way is what makes it a game. Otherwise it would only be a simulator and a poorly designed on at that.

What?

[likea357]

What I did was placed bus roads at each stop an nowhere else 4lane road with tress with bus lane instead of making whole roads with bus lanes I used that section only for stops prolly limits the number of busses I think