maintenance costs

[Roads]

I'm sure this has been discussed in great detail but my search yielded no results.  Could someone point me to where maintenance costs are documented?  Well actually, if you would just tell me if the roads that I build cost me in monthly fees that would be the cat's meow.

[DirrrtyDirk]

Unless you have switched to public player and built "cityroads" (which I don't think you did) - then the answer is yes, you do have to pay maintenance for everything you've built - including roads.

And about the "how much" when you choose the type of road (or track for that matter) in the menu, a tooltip should come up under the mouse pointer, once you have placed it over the menu item you're planning to use.

There, it tells you the name of the item, building cost, maintenance cost (in brackets) and max speed.
e.g. Asphalt road, 270c (8c), 80km/h

[Roads]

woot!  Thanks Dirk.  I should have paid more attention to the tooltip.  I remember seeing how much it cost...
And I just looked and yep, it is there exactly the way you said.  It doesn't help me in my present game though, I keep losing money and the maintenance on dirt roads (which is what I have) is 0.  With every single vehicle I have the dollar amount shown for the vehicle is in black in the vehicle list.  Also most of my trucks have pickup at both ends of their trip so very little deadheading.  So far in this game I don't have any trains, just buses and trucks.  Any idea what could be costing me so much?

Oh BTW you are right I haven't built any roads in public service mode, that smells a little like cheating to me.

[prissi]

Stations also cost maintenance. You see your total monthly maintenance in the finance window.

[Roads]

Yes Prissi but is there no breakdown of the costs?  Imagine what I would think when I get to the checkout counter at the Pig, they ring up my groceries, then hand me a tiny peice of paper with a of total $2,000 on it and nothing else.

I would certainly want to reconsider what those items I bought cost.

[DirrrtyDirk]

No, there is no more breakdown. For the early stages of a game, simply follow one rule: keep things small and simple. Build only what is really necessary and nothing else (i.e. the smallest possible stations, no unnecessary extension buildings, etc.)

[Roads]

Thanks Dirk, I'll play around with it some more.  I don't have any stations unless loading bays could be considered stations.

The only thing I can think of that might be costing me a lot of money is the way the passengers are moving around.  They will sometimes take a bus in the wrong direction if the route eventually leads to their destination.  This of course causes big crowds to gather at some bus stops and leaves other trips inefficient.  If I'm losing money for those passengers going in the wrong direction or being charged for passengers whilling away their lives at bus stops, then I realize I need to rework my routes.

Actually I have been concerned with what those passengers are doing while waiting all that time at the stops...

[VS]

Yes, it's really frustrating, but you can't simply spread your wings and cover the map in one year At the beginning, save every penny you can, because you have only relatively small connections with low profit.

The maintenance costs are shown consistently on all items, so spend some time before building anything, and think: what is cheaper? Sometimes the question is not as easy as looking at numbers and comparing them; is it worth to pay maintenance for two depots, or one and a buy once a stretch of cheap road? Do all station tiles have to be the most expensive, or can you save a lot and have only one for accepting cargo and leave the rest to the cheapest stuff? Actually, in pak128 the cheapest thing allowing cargo is truck loading bay, so, station with lowest maintenance has the cheapest platform and a truck loading bay (even unused)... some ways to save money may not even be really logical!

For vehicles, fuel price is subtracted as they drive, so the numbers on them are accurate.

It's infrastructure costs that always bite when you don't look. If you can, watch the charts near end of month, and look how the point suddenly drops! I mean not the end of line, but the point theat is moved back in that moment. Profit goes up and up and... plop. I guess, typically the "hidden costs" can be about 30%.

[whoami]

The info windows for stops and also "ways" could be extended to show the maintenance cost. The main window for stops could show the sum, the detail window the different types and their aggregate costs; or some other method to query the cost of a single stop tile would be useful. For ways, signals and level crossings (different owners?) need to be covered, too.

[Roads]

No worries whoami.

I figured it out!!!

I'm not at profitability yet but like the cat said who got its tail under the rocker - it won't be long now.  Oh and you people are evil, evil, evil and I think I love you! *cheer*

[Roads]

I was so excited last night I didn't say all I wanted to say.  Thanks to all who helped me!  A great big thank you to VS who got me to thinking about where the real cost was.

What I meant about you guys being evil, evil, evil is how deviously brilliant the concept of the cost is and how brilliantly executed.

Yes whoami I think what you said would help people figure out a strategy.  It was such joy when I figured it out though I am not sure now that I would want to deprive other players of the experience.  It might make it too easy.