You simply need to stick with one rule when placing the tracks: do not place intersections. However, don't dismiss streetcars just because of this! Streetcars do work, and they work very well. You can't control their routes, so if this happens, your streetcar riders will get angry in a hurry because their wait times will shoot up, and they'll take to their cars over your mass transit options. If you're unlucky, a streetcar may bounce back and forth between two stops, or will consistently ignore a turn. Streetcars will randomly turn around for no apparent reason, and when a streetcar comes to an intersection, it seems to have no logic in which way it turns. The strange behaviors are significant, and relate entirely to movement. Like buses, they'll stop at any given streetcar stop as necessary. However, due to their placement constraints, and a couple strange behaviors that may be bugs, they require more planning.

Streetcars will significantly reduce traffic congestion, and high-wealth Sims will ride them. They suffer little traffic congestion themselves, but they can only move along properly equipped avenues. Streetcars, also known as trolleys, feature a higher capacity than buses and move along their own tracks in the middle of avenues. Sims will weigh the whole route when they're trying to get to their destination, and remember that the more options they have, the less likely they'll be to take their cars. Buses can serve as connections between other forms of mass transit a Sim could jump in a bus, ride to a different stop, get out and ride a streetcar, which then takes them to their job. No matter what, you need buses to have a well-used mass transit system. A good rule of thumb is that you can often place a park and ride on the most dense road right at the edge of a commercial neighborhood. It's usually best to place a park and ride near but not inside residential neighborhoods, allowing them to be close by without eating up space that could be used for housing. This allows Sims to drive there, park at the parking garage, and take a nearby mass transit vehicle. If that looks a little messy across your entire city, you can build a park and ride. Your Sims are also smart enough to get off at any stop that will help them, and likely won't ask the bus to make a stop only for them. In the following screenshot, despite the stops being so close together, the buses are smart enough to just drive past any stop that doesn't have passengers. As long as you alternate which side of the road your stops are placed, you can simply lay them all down as close together as possible along main streets. As mentioned, Sims don't like crossing the street, so if a single bus stop is placed directly in the center of a residential neighborhood, it won't see too many riders, and it certainly won't see riders from the edge of the green area. This is the area that's covered, by a single stop, but it's a little misleading. When placing bus stops, you'll see the nearby roads covered in green. It may seem like a waste, but remember that bus stops have a very small upkeep fee (only $10/hr), and they only cost $200 initially if you have a city large enough to support mass transit, then a one-time fee that reduces traffic shouldn't hurt!

As a result, when you place any given bus stop, be sure to place a sister stop across the street in the same location. Sims who choose to take the bus don't want to walk around too far, and they dislike crossing the street. Remember that the depot is also a bus stop itself. Plopping a shuttle bus depot allows buses to travel around the city at will, and Sims can be picked up and dropped off at any stop at any time. High- wealth Sims don't like them, and will look for other options first, including driving their own cars.Р”В«uses however will help the majority of your low- and medium-wealth Sims. However, unlike previous iterations of the franchise, it's not as simple as plopping a bus stop down in the middle of a neighborhood and leaving the Sims to their own devices. Buses are the least expensive option to help minimize traffic.

Simcity 3000 tips