Transportation

General Ideas and Issues

Facility with track	Yard Track	Yard Track	Yard Track	Yard Track
Yard Track	Merging Track	Yard Track	Yard Track	Yard Track
Double Track	Switch Point	Switch Point	Switch Point	Double Track
Yard Track	Yard Track	Yard Track	Merging Track	Yard Track
Yard Track	Yard Track	Yard Track	Yard Track	Yard Track

There have been several people who have suggested some good ideas which don't quite fit in with the ideas in this section but are worth the mention.

Naming Streets - It might be complicated for Maxis to include, but a huge amount of people want the ability to name streets. This could be possible based on storing the grid co-ordinates for each road. Intersections could be tricky.

Shipping Variety - Whilst the various ships that float around in SC3000 provided a cool bit of 'eye-candy', the next version of Simcity should model more realistic the elements of shipping. Players have suggested that large container ships, cruise liners (specific to the Recreation ideas), coastal patrol boats and private vessels should be presented on the water. In addition, a variation in colours for each type of vessel would make this 'eye-candy' even more appealing to players.

Some people have even suggested the odd naval ship should appear such as an aircraft carrier or destroyer!

Plane Variety - The same idea as with shipping has been presented with planes. Most players complain that the planes in SimCity should be more up-to-date. A good idea would be to provide a wide variety of "generically" jet planes in the game. This way you don't have players complaining that they have propeller planes in the 22nd century.

Traffic Lights - A little eye candy should be added to intersections. When an intersection is created, tile with traffic lights replace the current intersection tiles in SC3000.

Diagonal Crossings - Some people have suggested that you should be able to diagonally cross railroads and roads (even highways!)

Choice of Highway Lanes - Some players have suggested that the width of a highway should be selected. This way you could have 2,3,4 and 5 lane highways

Median Strips - Median strips could be included between highway lanes to make them look more realistic. The picture below shows (hypothetically) what highways, arterials and lowered highways could look like.

Roads

Streets

1x1

Good

This road type would apply to residential and non-built up areas. Traffic can only reach a certain limit on these streets. When you lay a street parallel to another street (construct avenue) it will automatically upgrade your street to a arterial route.

Residential areas and "quite suburbs" remain that way. Currently a suburban area can become a traffic nightmare in SC3000.

Arterial Routes

2x2

Good

Taking the avenue concept and applying it as an independent tile. These roads are treated as main arterial routes where heavy traffic passes through.

Business districts are more spaced out and look more realistic.
Heavy traffic is controlled through these roads as the city grows.
Allows for realistic modeling of traffic and gives the player slight control of traffic conditions within the city (currently the randomization of traffic or "hoarding" effect is unrealistic)

Round-about

3x3

Good

The roundabout idea has not been suggested very often, however, it is a symbolic transport design throughout the world. Major cities use roundabouts to control the flow of traffic through large central business districts. Currently the player can create a 'rough' roundabout in the game such as those shown in the picture, however, they tend to not look realistic and as the arterial example shows the roads create intersections around the roundabout.

1	2	3
4	5	6
7	8	9

In SimCity terms, the roundabout would be a 3x3 tile, as above, that allows road connections to tiles 2,4,6 and 8. Some people have also suggested tile 5 be hollow to allow the player to place a park, fountain or 1x1 landmark in the middle. The same concept could also be applied to arterial routes by expanding the size of the roundabout to 4x4 (as shown in the picture).

Highways - Raised

2x2

Bad

Good

Existing highway tileset from SC3000. The look of the tileset could be modified so that it does not give the "Berlin Wall" look when placed. Maybe applying piers under the road would be more suitable.

If the walled look is changed, makes raised highways look better.

Highways - Lowered

2x2

Bad

Good

Existing highway as in SC3000, but running at ground level. Would have barriers to symbolize the difference between arterial roads.

Looks better than the walled in look of SC3000 highways
Can represent specific city highways more realistically (i.e. New York, Berlin autobahns)

Onramps - Raised

3x1

N/A

Use the existing onramps from SC3000 for raised highways

Onramps - Lowered

3x2

N/A

A new tile would be developed that takes the shape of a stretch out "S" shape. Three spaces would be needed parallel to the road as you would have to take into consideration the one tile space for where the land bridge raises the terrain.

Onramps - Lowered to Raised Highways

3x3

N/A

Same tile concept would be used when creating onramps in SC3000 when highways intersect, except that the new set would have to drop down to ground level.

Intersections and Junctions

N/A

Street to Arterial	Street to Lowered Highway	Arterial to Lowered Highway	All to Raised Highway
Would work in the same manner as existing roads going through avenues.	A narrow land bridge would be built over the highway.	A wide land bridge would be built over the highway.	Same as currently exists in SC3000

Connection - Raised to Lowered Highways

4x2

N/A

This would be a 4x2 tile that automatically raises the road to an appropriate level (can only be done on flat terrain - not possible on gradients).

Example of diagram:

Tiles 1 and 2 would lay over or next to the lowered highway.
Tiles 3, 4, 5 and 6 would be drawn as piers under the road being raised to meet at height of raised highway.
Tiles 7 and 8 would lay over or next to raised highway.

This special tile could also be automatically applied by the game if you drag a raised highway over a lowered highway to create a connection (normal structural warnings would be given if not possible).

Tracks	1x1	Bad	Neutral	Good
Same effects and style as existing SC3000 track except that when two lines are laid parallel to each other they should not cause the looping effect that occurs in SC3000. Parallel tracks should confirm to the same rules as avenues in SC3000. Heavily used tracks can be rectified by laying another line next to the existing line.
Depots	2x2	Bad	Neutral	Good
Depots are used for industrial areas.
Station	2x2	Neutral	Good	Neutral
Small stations can be used in residential and small business districts. Their effects are not as bad as large stations and they only cover a smaller radius than larger stations. SC3000 did not really use railroads for residential and commercial purposes. This model allows for Sims to actually use your rail network.
Terminal	4x4	Bad	Good	Neutral
Larger stations can be used for heavily populated areas and business districts. These stations serve a larger radius than small stations. More realistic classification and usage of rail system in CBD areas.
Yard	5x5	Bad	Bad	Good
Yards need to be brought into the next Simcity as a better representation of railroads. Yards can replace the existing shed that appears where a rail line ends. Assuming that a player has placed at least one yard in the city, the rail network will start to be used. Gives the game a better way of representing where trains originate and end when traveling. Gives the industrial areas that "hustle and bustle" look. Eliminates the small shed look of SC3000. Improves industry as most industries are realistically located next to railroad yards.

Bus Depot

3x3

Bad

Good

Neutral

This tile should replace the bus stops in SC3000 which became too much to manage. Players eventually got sick of placing stops everywhere that bus stops became a neglected part of the game.

Bus Depot would cover a larger radius and bus services would be more manageable in the game.

Ferry Wharf	2x2	Bad	Good	Neutral
This building would be a special water based tile like the marina in SC3000. The building would be drawn to have little piers going off each direction so that logically one edge can make it to the shoreline. Restrictions would apply so that the building must be adjacent to the shoreline (stops isolated building in middle of water). Logically two wharf stations would need to be established to make this service work. Finally represents a missing element from the Simcity games. Boosts commerce. Solves the problem of how Sims can cross water if no bridge exists (good early in the game when you can not afford a bridge).
Passenger Terminal	3x3	Bad	Good	Neutral
This building would serve for the purpose of tourism and commerce. It has the same variables and effects as an airport in that more than one makes no difference. Must be based next to shoreline to have any effect. Helps commerce and tourism. Gives Maxis an excuse to include a cruise liner floating on the water.
Water Buoy	1x1	N/A	N/A	N/A
A suggestion that would improve on the use of ferries would be to place these tiles around your lakes and oceans and mark specific routes for the ferries to take. Basically these tiles act as markers in the game which are used by ferries. When a ferry travels, it looks for a buoy in the direction it is traveling and heads that way. It keeps repeating this process until it reaches a wharf or a "dead-end". This way you don't have ferries traveling aimlessly through the game and it makes the waterways concept more interesting.

Bridges

N/A

The game needs to bring back the option where a player can select the type of bridge to build. A wider choice of bridges should be made available for all road types. Obviously the street and arterial route tiles would have the biggest choice of bridge types.

Example of bridge types that could be included:

Connection to Bridges for Arterial Routes

Its no secret that SC3000 allowed you to place two bridges against each other in order to allow the avenue effect to stretch over a river.

The solution to bridges or tunnels (if arterial routes are introduced - see below) would be to either let players get away with the way it is currently done or actually produce two sets of bridges. Normal ones for streets and widened ones for arterial routes.
Lowered Highways would not have any problem as when a bridge is required, it must raise the terrain anyway. In essence it becomes a raised highway automatically.

Tunnels

N/A

Tunnels need to be changed so that they can also go underwater like most modern cities use. New York and Sydney are great examples of such underwater tunnels. The concept would be the same as laying subways under water except that the terrain could not be too steep as this would be unrealistic.

In addition, players have suggested that they would like to have a tunnel tool as an option in the menu, rather than making the game decide when a tunnel should be built. This way, the player is free to create unique combinations both through mountains and underwater.

Light Rail Track	1x1	Neutral	Good	Neutral
This tile would function in the same manner as the subway tile, except it is above ground. The track would have a less industrial look than the normal rail tracks.
Track Linking Tile	3x1	N/A	N/A	N/A
This tile would be used to link the subway system to the light rail system in order to allow continues transport. This tile would have the same effect as the track linking tile in SC3000. The tile size is important as it realistically reflects the gradient needed for a subway car to go up to ground level. In addition, if this tile was graphically modified by the user, it could easily interlink into an elevated rail system.
Light Rail Station	1x1 or 2x2	Neutral	Good	Neutral
The light rail station would be able to "plug" into the track system in the same manner as rail stations. This station would have the same variables as the subway station.

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