Hello, Cities: Skylines players! Today is an ideal day to build the perfect city, right? In Cities: Skylines, every day is ideal for the city to be further improved and become the most desirable place to live and the most popular tourist destination. At least virtually.
So, we assume that you already know the main rules – it is desirable to build a city that will meet all the criteria of a perfect, progressive city. Modern buildings, suburbs, various institutions needed while maintaining a harmonious and peaceful life, parks, and more. Today we will talk about public transport – more precisely, buses. So, let’s begin.
Cities: Skylines is a city-building singleplayer game that hit the gaming market in 2015. Since 2015, this game has not left the list of the most popular games in which players must build their perfect city. In competition with games like SimCity, SimCity4, Tropico 6 and other games that have arrived in the gaming market over the years, Cities: Skylines definitely takes first place.
Maybe it’s because of the different opportunities that players have playing this game – they also build the city but they are also financial managers and take care of the environment, jobs, education of citizens and the tourism sector. Sometimes it really seems to us that this game has countless possibilities, which is why playing Cities: Skylines is never boring.
Not to stray too far from the topic, today we will talk about buses in Cities: Skylines, so read carefully to remember all the important information that you can later use in your virtual city.
Also Read: How to Make Cities: Skylines Look Better?
Buses in Cities: Skylines
Gamers who play Cities: Skylines know how important public transportation is in their cities. Well-structured public transport reduces congestion on the roads and shortens the time of departures and arrivals, for example, of citizens traveling from work to home. That is why it is very important to consider the offered options of public transport and build the ones that will contribute the most to the quality of city life.
Buses are the cheapest public transport option and the first to be offered to players at the very beginning of the game. Citizens can travel by bus within the city, but also between cities. It is important to build bus depots first and then set up bus routes.
One tip is to build bus stops every 2-4 blocks to distribute the amount of transportation evenly. However, avoid building bus stations near busy intersections in your city, the bus when it stops to disembark and pick up new passengers will thus unnecessarily block that part of the road that is already busy.
Before you build bus stations, check the traffic density on other roads around your city and be careful not to set up bus stations on them as well. A bus that stops will unnecessarily block the road, and busy roads really don’t need extra congestion. Instead, build bus stations one block away. And try to avoid crossing busy roads and intersections with your bus routes.
Another advice – try not to overlap your bus lines. Build two bus stations but on opposite sides so the flow can be much easier. Your citizens will be happier and will not express resentment over complicated and slow overlapped bus lines.
When building bus routes, determine the place of departure and the place of arrival. See on your map places that are not connected by public transport. For example, the industrial zone should be connected to the residential zone because workers will have to be able to return home from work with the bus.
Furthermore, it is desirable to connect tourist attractions with buses and places where tourists come from. This way tourists will easily be able to visit your tourist parts (and spend money there, of course!). Just be careful not to confuse tourist roads with everyday busy roads in your city as this will increase congestion in the city.
Plan your tourist zone carefully so as not to interfere with the daily lives of your citizens. If you connect bus lines well with the main parts of the city, your citizens will not need to use cars, and this will reduce pollution in your city and city congestion.
In addition, you can use bus lanes to avoid traffic jams. Bus lanes are disconnected from the main roads in your city, they are a very common option because they are fast and reliable and it will not happen that cars or other means of transport are found in the middle of bus route. Bus lanes are a cheap option and a great resource if you want to reduce problems with city crowds. A great deal is to build a bus lane on an existing road. That way, the bus will pass on the same road as the car, but it will not interfere with each other.
When you are placing bus terminals, make sure it is close to bus lanes as this will speed up and facilitate passenger transfers. Also, build the facilities around your bus terminals. Buildings such as high schools or offices should be close to bus terminals to make it easier for passengers to board and disembark from the bus. You can place bus terminals near residential areas or even shopping centers.
Players often wonder how many buses are enough to build for public transportation to function normally. There is no universal answer to that. Manually check the status of your bus stations so you will see which bus stations are not needed and which are overloaded and thus their efficiency is reduced. You can always build a direct bus route that will not stop at bus stops which will speed up transportation.
Direct buses can be to the shopping mall or to the high school, or to something else, depending on where there are a large number of citizens waiting for the bus for a particular location. Before you delete or change a bus line check for line details to see how many people on average use that bus line and how many buses operate on that line. It is always better to check the information before you decide to do some changes in your city transport.
In one part of the game you will be able to build tram stations. Trams have a larger capacity so they will be able to board more people, thus the number of bus stations in your city will certainly be reduced. And don’t forget to build pedestrian crossing near the bus stop.
Otherwise, your citizens will not be able to cross the road to wait for the bus, but will have to go to the nearest pedestrian crossing which does not have to be that close at all. And that’s all you need to know about the buses in Cities: Skylines.
Also Read: How to Turn On Infinite Money in Cities: Skylines?
Final Thoughts
We think we have given you all the information you need about buses in Cities: Skylines. Buses are the cheapest and most basic means of transportation you can use for public transport purposes. With buses, your citizens will not have to use cars, and thus will not pollute the environment and create city congestion. If the buses are well connected to all parts of the city, citizens will automatically use public transport services.
Basically, we can say that buses serve to reduce city congestion caused by the large number of cars in the city. So focuse on bus lanes as well, if you build bus lanes you will further speed up city transport, and buses will not run alongside cars on busy roads in your city. Don’t forget to manually check the status of your bus lines so you can add more buses or delete those bus lines that your citizens don’t need.
And finally, we want to hear your tips on how to improve public transport in Cities: Skylines, so feel free to share them with us!
