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Unprofitable buses

Started by Ters, November 10, 2011, 05:05:58 PM

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Ters

I just noticed that most of my bus and mail truck lines are running with a loss, or at best just barely generating a profit. Since there is no drop in passenger or mail like last time, I suspect that the change in speed bonus calculation might have something to do with it.

So, before I start spending time figuring out how to make bus lines profitable again, I want to ask if pak64 has been rebalanced to take into count this change. Or is city traffic supposed to be unprofitable now? My company as a whole is still making money, but it's difficult spotting problems when half my lines are red.

Though I guess balancing buses for the 50 km/h city speed limit will make them very cheap outside cities, where they can reach their true maximum speed. Unless, of course, their speed is always limited to 50 km/h.

prissi

There are some rebalancing done for buses inside towns with 50km/h speed limit in pak64. Espeically the minibus for low traffic lines now becomes meaningful. However, buses were never very profiitable inside towns, and playtesting was not complete.

greenling

prissi
can you make the pak64 so thats all vehicle make a profit?
Thanks
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Ters

They were certainly profitable enough for lines to make several thousand in profit each month each. This has now dropped to a loss of up to about two thousand per month for some lines. Company profits have been reduced to a third.

Some lines have some free capacity, so maybe I could replace one of the jointed buses with a minibus, but I like having lines of identical vehicles. Mail trucks seem to be the most affected.

Are there other changes that could have relevance? It must have happened within the last two or three weeks.

prissi

No, the other big change is still not submitted.

This was a long standing request, that people could use shinkansen or ICE on tramways. Thus this patch.

Buses have been always calculated to be profitable with 50% load. If you now run an 80kmh bus on 50km/h, you will need about 65% load for profit; not soo much difference.

Ters

My bus lines might drop below 65 % load on the part of their routes farthest from the hub, but my mail truck lines look more consistently filled, and they suffer the most. This might be a topic of it's own, but I find it difficult to figure out the average load. There is a graph for free capacity, but I can't find anything to measure it against. The help text mentiones a travelled graph, but appears almost completely outdated.

greenling

ters
a photo help to understand your problem.
Opening hours 20:00 - 23:00
(In Night from friday on saturday and saturday on sunday it possibly that i be keep longer in Forum.)
I am The Assistant from Pakfilearcheologist!
Working on a big Problem!

prissi

Mail has been not rebalanced and was never really well integrated into gameplay. Mail must be done by rail, ship and maybe overland truck. Intown you will make minus with mail.

Ters

I can live with intracity lines operating at a loss, but it gives me an idea for an extension request.