If you have any more than one line running through your city, then the other line’s income will cannibalize each other. Let me give you some advice now that I finally got it down… 😉
- Â First, when you are planning out your route, know where you want to place your stations and how far apart they need to be
- Then, when you place your stations, check to make sure that you are hitting the ‘hot spots’ where there is a lot of foot traffic
- As you’re placing the stations, only put a couple stations in each zone (color), if you place too many, it will take too long for your buses, trams, to be profitable.
- Â Using a ‘Ring-road’ method is preferred for maximum profits with no more than 12-14 stations, any more than that and your line’s income will diminish, no matter how many buses/trams you have.
- There may come a time where you will have to connect some sections of road together. For example: if there is a long stretch of road with houses, industry, etc, and there is another stretch of road nearby with leisure, residential, etc, connect those and put a stop in each section.
- Putting stops at or nearby intersections is recommended since people don’t jay-walk in this game (hehe)
Now with that said, you should have some profitable lines whether they’re buses or trams. When your cities grow you can add another line using the same stations going the other direction or you can add a few more stations where people have relocated near your station to compensate. If you see buildings disappearing around your stops, remove the stops since nobody will be using them. Â Be sure that your lines do not intersect, it is not efficient that way.
I think I’ve almost perfected my bus and tram routes to the point that ONE of my trams is making 750K a year! That line only has 5 trams and 10 stops, just a few stops in each zone, and the route follows a ring-road direction that keeps the line running smoothly and quickly.
I hope this helps you as much that it helped me. I’ve logged almost 300 hours on Steam and I’m still playing and learning. I’m always trying out new methods to see what works best and that’s what you’re just gonna have to do too to get better, but I can almost promise you that my method will work in the time being.
Just a little tid bit for ya, this game tends to draw some very ridiculous intersections and sections of road that are pointless. When you get the money later in the game, try and do some city planning so your lines will be even more efficient. A good way to prevent the game from placing roads where you don’t want them is to place assets such as a lamp post at an intersection. Eventually you can have a nice looking grid system that the game could NEVER draw! I would post a picture of an example but I’m too lazy =P
