Various methods of transportation.
Transportation is an area that Monte Cristo was taking very seriously in the development of Cities XL. As the picture on the right shows, there were plans for quite a number of transportation methods in the game, and each one was to be developed beyond the mere drawing a line and building stations along it. Unfortunately, it proved really difficult to do all in time for the game's release, and there was also the idea of gradually developing more and more transportation methods in time, thanks to the Planet Offer's additional income. So, at the time of the release of Cities XL, there were only three principal transportation methods, conventional roads, harbors (sea transport) and airports. Of these, the former was used for both in-city and inter city transport, while the later were dedicated inter-city.
Couple of months later, the first in-city mass transport mode, Busses, was introduced, and another one, Metro, came later with the release of Cities XL 2011. However, both are developed far beyond anything we've seen so far in a city-building game.
There is Train transport coded in the game, with models of tracks, bridges and even a train station. The trains are intended as inter-city transport, alternative to Road City links and the Harbors and Airports as sources of Freight/Passenger services. However, the system is not active at present.
The transport infrastructure is one of the most important city infrastructures (if not THE most important) - and as such it is wholy maintained by the city Budget. All construction costs are present in the thumbnails of the facilities, and the maintenance costs you can check at the relevant section of the Budget Panel.
Types Of Transportation[]
Transportation in Cities XL is broken down into 5 main categories: Roads (the main road network which gives buildings transport access), Fast Lanes (dedicated expressways for wheel-based vehicles), Bridges/Tunnels (including different models for the different widhts of roads + Fast lanes), In-City Mass Transport (Busses, Metro) and Inter-City Mass Transport (Harbors, Airports, Rail).
NOTE: The menu organisation is very different in the NEXL mod. For more information, refer to the NEXL - New Transport Menu article.
Roads[]
This is the main in-city and inter-city means of transport. They are used by a variety of transportation means: cars, Busses, freight trucks, service vehicles (such as police cars or fire engines). Roads also allow pedestrian circulation and serve as the main connection to various other means of transport (such as Metro and Rail). In the context of means of tranportation, roads are the main way for Private transport means (cars and bicycles), and also for some Public transport means (Buses, Trams).
Roads need to be connected to almost all buildings for them to function (very few exceptions). In the city, the road system not only allows people to get places in their cars, but also serves as service distribution channel, that is, the coverage of services 'spreads' along the road network in a certain radius. Outside your city, roads can serve as freight and passenger distributors via City links, which can be established along the map's borders. Note that City links can only be opened in certain areas (shown on the respective Resource layer), and each one 'eats up' a part of that area, so that eventually you won't be able to build any more City links.
Building roads is one of the most important aspects of the game, and something you'll be doing all the time, so - check the Transport Network building guide.
Lanes management.[]
Almost every road (excluding expressways, highways and some National style roads) can have its lanes adjusted. To do that just click on the road - a panel will open with upgrade options. Warning, you'll be selecting only a section of the road (from one crossroad to the next one), so you have to make the adjustments segment by segment. Depending on the road type, you'll have many options, but here are some of the more common:
- two lanes one way (or the other), for small and simple roads
- four lanes one way (for avenues)
- four lanes one way with trees (for large avenues). This maintains the trees.
- two lanes one way, three lanes the other way (for large avenues). This excludes the trees.
- five lanes one-way (for large avenues). Also excludes trees.
Also, the NEXL mod allows upgrading normal roads to include Bicycle lanes, Bus lanes and Tram tracks.
NOTE: Cities XL doesn't allow you to increase the width of a road by a simple click. If you need to build a larger road over a smaller one, you'll need to manually destroy the old road, and replace it with the new one.
With these adjustments you can really direct the traffic flow in the city. If your downtown area is suffering, make two parallel avenues one way! For more information on how to manage Traffic in the city, take a look at the Traffic Flow article.
Road types[]
All of the types of roads are freely interconnectable, i.e. you can make intersections with each one of them, and also freely convert one into another.
| Type | Construction Cost (C / 40m) | Maintenance Cost (C / 40m / month) | Capacity (cars/min) | Width (m) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small Farm Road | 5 | 1 | 10 | 10 | dirt road |
| Medium Farm Road | 7 | 1 | 10 | 15 | dirt road |
| Small Road | 20 | 1 | 20 | 10 | |
| Simple Road | 40 | 2 | 40 | 15 | |
| Simple Grassy Road | 40 | 2 | 40 | 20 | National style road |
| Small Avenue | 80 | 4 | 60 | 25 | |
| Large Uptown Avenue | 80 | 4 | 80 | 30 | National style road |
| Large Avenue | 160 | 8 | 80 | 30 | |
| Wide Uptown Avenue | 160 | 8 | 80 | 45 | National style road |
| Large Luxurious Avenue | 260 | 13 | 80 | 30 | |
| Expressway | 350 | 18 | 160 | 40 | |
| Highway | 520 | 50 | 320 | 45 | See next section |
The NEXL mod is bringing an even greater variety in the Roads section: there will be Pedestrian-only roads with varying width, roads with bicycle lanes, and also an all-new Tramway system! For more information, head to the NEXL section of the Wiki.
Fast Lanes (Highways)[]
This is currently the largest and fastest road, 8 lanes, 320 cars/min. It is basically a fenced road corridor, with its own rules. It is also important to note that Highways use a different City Link resource than Roads, serving as an alternative for Inter City connections. For more information, see Highway .
Bridges and tunnels[]
These facilities permit roads and other types of transport networks to overcome geographical barriers, such as mountains or rivers, or they allow roads to pass over or under other roads, not crossing them and thus not hindering their traffic. You can use the same tool to build either a bridge or a tunnel - check the Transport Network building guide for more information on how to do that.
You can control the lanes of a bridge. Simply click on it, and you'll see all the upgrade options, the same as in the respective road. Be careful to activate the correct direction on the connecting roads!
NOTE: The NEXL mod changes the way the Bridge option is activated. It is no longer a separate menu option, but is now a tickable option in the respective submenu, which brings out the respective bridge models, instead of the normal road models.
In City[]
This is the Mass (aka Public) Transport system providing your citizens with alternatives to cars for going to work and back. When using Public transport, citizens will leave their Private vehicles at home and move around on foot. They can also switch between different means of Public transport, if there are stations sufficiently close to one another. The two options currently available are described at length in their respective sections:
The NEXL mod is expected to soon add numerous alternatives for in-ctiy transport, such as:
Inter City[]
Unlike In-city transport, Inter City concerns not the movement of citizens INSIDE the city, but the external transport connections of the city with the rest of the Planet. They are primarily related to economy and trading, and not transportation (although vehicles like freight trucks will increase road traffic). Inter City facilities provide you with additional City Link options, and expand your Freight and Passenger trading capacity and internal services. The options include Sea transport (Harbors) and Air Transport (Airports), with the first dedicated to freight, and the second - to Passengers.
There is a third option coded in the game - Rail transport, which will include freight and passenger trains for Inter-City connections. Unfortunately, MC never got around to releasing trains, and neither did Focus, at least until now. Still, this is a much anticipated development which will undoubtedly appear in the game sooner or later.
Confirmed transportation[]
The Forms of Transportation Confirmed for Cities XL (Released or not) are: