A Look at...
TRAFFIC GIANT
The Game that lets YOU run the system

It's highly likely that any transit fan of a local system is bound to have at some point, a little imaginary setup of a system, perhaps the way they envision it could be, or perhaps even a "What If?" scenario, that could have played out had the winds of business and politics blown another way.  Personally, I tend to daydream about a Baltimore System containing lots of Streetcars (including some PCC's) operating on a U Shaped Subway Surface setup similar to that used in West Philadelphia!

But enough of the dreaming.  This year, Jowood software introduced a new transit simulation game for the PC called "Traffic Giant" that allows you free reign and control of your very own transit system, from determining the location of routes and stops to deciding on the vehicles quantities, types, and sizes.  Traffic Giant will let you build a fully functioning, interconnecting system from the ground up, limited only by the capabilities of your system and your imagination.

My own exposure to Traffic Giant was quite sudden.  Flipping through the pages of PC Gamer during the spring of 2001, I happened upon a not very descriptive ad for the game which simply showed a city street in San Francisco with copy reading something like "WAIT UNTIL YOU TRY TO HANDLE THE SUPER BOWL CROWDS!!!"  I was instantly engaged in wondering "Is this what it looks like?!?"  Wasting no time, I headed up to the Internet and looked up the provided website http://www.trafficgiant.com. I was shocked to see that indeed it was - - A TRANSIT SIM!!!   Fortunately, there was a downloadable demo available which I quickly snapped up, only to discover to my dismay that it was in GERMAN!!!  Since Ich Spreche nicht gut Deutsch, it took a lot of trial and error to try to figure the proper procedures for getting the game running.  However, before too long, I was indeed up and running, and I was hopelessly HOOKED!
 

An empty (as indicated by the empty circle) coach on this system's #1 line pulls in to pick up 30 happy patrons awaiting its arrival.  Across the street, there are no passengers waiting for the #1 headed the opposite way.

With an estimated US release of June given to me, and an restless impatience, I found perhaps the only domestic distributor of the UK version through Amazon.com and quickly ordered a copy.  The game arrived (thankfully in English) and I quickly installed it, only to find a great deal of challenges and varieties to be encountered along the way, from the small compact town and sporadic suburban development to the congested mini-metropolis, Traffic Giant's dozens of pre-built scenarios offer a wealth of challenging gameplay.

Following is an overview of the game, with some general gameplay specifics and details.  I had to make the screen captures using my digital camera aimed at my PC, so any fuzziness, glare, or barrel distortion you may see comes as a result of this.

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THE INTRO

The game starts with a very nice, albeit somewhat fuzzy video, depicting the start of a service day at a local transit operation.  Altogether it is a nice touch, although it can be skipped.  In addition, when starting any new mode of service (bus, streetcar, heavy rail), an inaugural video will also display.

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GAME OVERVIEW

Following the video, the player is provided with an easy to follow set up screen which will allow you the typical gauntlet of gaming options (Start New Game, Continue Game, etc.).  Once you have started, picking the city you wish to work with, the game loads the city as well as the travel habits of EACH of its inhabitants.  This is where the game's biggest and most realistic strength lies.  For example, every occupant of the population is assigned a residence, as well as potential destinations for work, shopping, and leisure.  In an overly sexist way, it appears that the workers are males, while the shoppers are females (...as to the leisure destinations?!?).  While this may not be "PC," it does simplify an otherwise complex and elaborate gaming structure.

Each bus stop can accomodate up to four routes.  The "flag" accompanying each stop denotes the routes the stop services, and indicates the number of people waiting for each line.  The "face" beacon in the third column denotes the disposition of those on the stop.  As the longer your riders wait, or the more they get passed up by full vehicles, their disposition will detiorate.  While the disposition of those waiting at this stop is good, it appears that those waiting for the #28 line are beginning to get ticked.

Among the interesting options are the ability to choose your transit operation's color scheme (from red, blue, green, and yellow).  In addition, you can compete alongside of up to three computerized opponents against which you'll attempt to compete for the largest ridership, most complete coverage, and best image.  This is often no easy task, as it dilutes your potential ridership.  If however, you prefer to be the only game in town (as is seen in most US cases), you are free to opt for no competitors as well.

Towns have populations ranging from a couple thousand up to 50,000 inhabitants.  Not all of these inhabitants will be willing to forsake their autos to ride your transit system, but with a little promotion, as well as smart route planning, you can very well encourage many of the locals to leave the driving to your operators.  Included within the game are many variables that you set which will make a difference in the quality and convenience of service you offer.  Among these are Driver Wages, Driver Training Expenses, Fares, Zone Fares, Zone Length, and Advertising Options.  Be careful in how you promote your system to avoid going broke, but do feel free to experiment to see what works for you.

The game begins in January 2001, and starts out with 2 different modes of transit (bus and streetcar {or tram}).  Both of these modes operate in the same fashion, along the congested city streets (although trams of course require that you lay tram rail).  The biggest drawback to these modes is that they, quite naturally, are prone to the delays of traffic congestion, often resulting in the gapping and bunching of service, making it nearly impossible to create a rather even headway (although vehicles CAN be set to stay a 15 minute distance behind their leader, it rarely works well, as the vehicles stop in the middle of the street, causing further congestion).  Initially, 4 different bus models and one tram model are offered, although as years progress, new vehicle models are introduced each January.  One of the biggest drawbacks of the tram is that it can not be constructed in the typical prototype "Light Rail" fashion, with any possible mix of street running, reservation, and private right of way.  These trams are strictly "STREETcars" with the main advantage of capacity and image over motor buses.
 

A pair of empty trams on route #50 pull into an empty stop.  Can we say "SERVICE CUTS COMING?!?"

The basic concept of the game is rather simple, establish your financial rates and expenditures (which can always be changed, even without PSC hearings!), then establish your routes, place the stops, purchase equipment and stock your lines.  The system will generally flow well by itself, although you may find yourself needing to adjust the service levels on your lines, depending on the ridership at the time.  You can add new routes at any time, and also eliminate routes as needed, again without the interference of that nasty PSC and their public hearings.  All routes are automatically numbered sequentially, and should you eliminate a route, and later establish a new one, the designation will assume the lowest available number.  Not too suprisingly, bus and tram line routes are all numbered, although somewhat oddly, heavy rail, monorail, and levitation routes will also follow this numbering system.
 
 

TRAFFIC GIANT VIGNETTES
	THE LAST STRAW: The 6 patrons waiting here for the #3 line are certainly getting angry.  What do you bet they gave the driver of the second #22 holy heck.
	GOING TO GET UGLY: When the #1 bus finally does show up to find 151 cross people waiting, it won't be nice!  This scene is often repeated here several times daily at Eastpoint Mall on the Westbound #23 line, or with an emergency closing of city schools!
	PICKING STRAWS: When the nearly loaded #1 bus pulls up to find another 24 people waiting to board, one can only imagine that those left behind will begin to see their dispositions start to worsen.
	HANDLING THE LOAD: Heavy Rail train on the #34 line slides to greet a full platform of riders.  The platform design here is reminiscent of Chicago's Skokie Swift operation during the 1950's and 1960's.  Meanwhile, a train leaves in the opposite direction after clearing the platform, while an empty #37 streetcar uses a street loop to change directions.
	THE ULTIMATE: Heated Bus Stop Shelters are expensive, but make your patrons the most patient they can be as they await your crappy service.  Street stops range from a simple sign post, to a bench, to a covered awning, to this regal waiting room!

After establishing the routes and stops, and providing vehicles to operate the lines, the fun part to the transit enthusiast begins, sitting back, and watching your creation do its duty, as the stops fill with people, only to be depleted with the passing of every vehicle.  The riders in the sim are remarkably patient, as they will typically remain in good spirits despite being left up by filled vehicles.  However, they do have their limits, and your main task in doing your job well will be to avoid pushing the riders to those limits wherever possible.

Overall, the gameplay of Traffic Giant is largely simplified from that of a real life city transit operation.  Generally, there are no official rush hours, although lopsided riding patterns can be observed when most of your line's riders are on one end of the line trying to get to the other.  As a result, you may find it necessary to manually employ "trippers" on your lines should you encounter overloaded bus stops.  This is generally a trick you'll only find time to do when your system is young and emerging, as it will become increasingly difficult to monitor every line should you establish an empire of 30, 40, 50 or more lines.  In employing "trippers," you simply keep a couple of spare buses (or simply pull empty or nearly empty coaches from your working roster), and deploy them as needed directly to overloaded bus stops  (possible by bringing up a line and clicking on the desired stop).  This works well to keep your riders happy, while generating quick farebox revenue to purchase new equipment to better serve your line, although it can be a little demading to keep track of.

Overall, the gameplay of Traffic Giant is thoroughly enjoyable, and the transit enthusiast and backseat planner will find hours of fun with it, in that it offers the precise routing control and operational control that no other game provides (certainly not the Sim City series).  This said, there are some limitations (and a few bugs) to the game which, at times, hinder the enjoyment, including:

• All routes operate the entire route, with no ability to operate cutback or "short turn" service on the same route number, aside from manually inserting "trippers" as described above.  This can be alleviated somewhat by establishing a separate route along the same path, but terminating shorter, but this is only but so effective, as riders are "assigned" an intended route of travel from the moment they step into the transit stop, thus, if you operate a #2 bus which is a short service version of the #1, and you have 15 riders awaiting a #2 bus on a bus stop, they will let a #1 pass by, despite the fact that it will take them to their intended destination.
• As mentioned above, the inability to operate versatile light rail operation, which can mix with traffic in congested areas, while operating on private rights of way in other areas.  As it stands now, light rail operation is a strict STREETcar.  Meanwhile, heavy rail or "city railroad" operation as called in the game does not afford the opportunity to dig tunnels and subway operation beneath the city, requiring expensive, landscape altering demolition which should be limited.  As it stands now, this city railroad operation more resembles a segregated interurban like SEPTA's Norristown line.
• It seems oddly coincidental that when retrieving a saved game, your transit system is often crippled by a "random" accident which causes your ridership to plummet, and carries a slow and costly recovery process along with it!
• Inability to make your own route numbers (or letters!) for the routes you operate, allowing for the possibility of grouping route numbers by region, mode, or equipment manufacturer/model.  One nice touch though is the ability to redesignate any line, naming it after its thorofare (all maps are coded with street names) and perhaps adding a suffix, thus designating your #18 line as the "CABLE ST. TRAM SHUTTLE," or your #5 line as the "ZOO LOCAL" should you so desire.
• One missing challenge is changing demographics.  Despite the passage of time, riding habits stay the same.  Shopping Centers remain thriving, and workplaces stay centered, not moving wholesale to the boonies like is often the case in real life.
• Inabilty to number your vehicles, while an admittedly minor gripe, would make the game a tad more authentic, and encourage an extra level of pride in one's system ("I purchased #2015 in 2003 and it worked the #12 line for 6 years before being swapped over to finish her career on the #27 line") and would seem to be not too difficult to have included in the coding, as you can review your entire vehicle inventory vehicle by vehicle.
• The ability to generate reports, or even system maps, with the printing of hard copies detailing route performance, vehicle inventories, and all other summary information currently provided only on screen.
• Inability to construct off street looping and terminal properties for your street routes, or even multi-modal terminals (as it stands now, buses and streetcars can share the same stops, but all other modes are isolated into their own terminals).  Currently, the turning of buses and trams can be done by either U-Turning the vehicles either at the end of dead end streets or in the middle of intersections, or creating routes that loop the block to turn around.  While the latter is preferable from a reality standpoint, these loops are more time consuming than simple "U-ies"

Despite the shortcomings listed above, Traffic Giant is a highly immersive sim that does have what it takes to give the back seat Service Planner many hours of thrilling gameplay.  In fact, when reviewed by PCGamer this Summer, the game suprised its (non transit fan) reviewer for it's addictiveness, garnering well better than average (and expected) reviews from the reviewer.  Traffic Giant is certainly not for everybody, but any transit fan in search of a good time on their PC should not be without it (and do be prepared to spend some time with it!).

The US Edition is supposed to differ from the UK version I have mainly in the architecture style used as well as the scenarions involved.  Thankfully, it follows a doors on the right setup for street vehicles, although I believe there is a setting to change this (at least in the European versions) to doors on the left setup.  Perhaps someday, I'll invest the 30 bucks for a copy of the US version to specificaly note the differences, but for the most part, the structure of the games should be the same.
 
 

Heart of the TG interface is the toolbox: The I is your Info screen which gives you location information, as well as overviews of any competitors. The U is your utility screen, where you manage your routes, and assign/pull vehicles. The Euro Bag (UK edit.) gives you your financial overview, and allows you to set fares, and review your performance. The tram is your vehicle screen, on which you'll purchase and retire vehicles. The Booth is your stops screen that allows you to add and remove stops.

So now that the Transit World has been blessed with Traffic Giant, will there be a Traffic Giant 2?!?  That will depend on you, the software purchaser and transit enthusiast to make it possible.  The game has done well in Europe, where transit is more prevalent, and less on the "fringe," but I have yet to see any results for sales in the US.  I can only hope it does well, and would love to see the following implemented in future releases (as well as those listed above):

• A scenario(s) in which you take control of an already built, but largely depreciated, mostly rail system following World War II, which has respectable amounts of capital, but faces quickly dropping ridership.  Do you reinvest in your streetcar lines, or do as was often done here, and stage a mass "bustitution?!?"
• US Style transit vehicles - the current ones can often be adapted with some imagination, but it would be nice to see PCCs operating as well as Old Look, New Look, Flx Metro, RTS, Neoplan, and Siemens LRV lookalikes rambling through your metropolis.
• Operation of systems that have multiple companies that collaborate a larger unified system, instead of competing with one another.

 

1 - HOW TO: Add a New Line!	From the UTILITIES ICON in the main menu, click on the line listing, and highlight "NEW LINE," then click on the sledgehammer tab above (arrow).
Lay down a starting point for your line, and proceed to to trace your route, clicking as you go along, until you created a complete circuit that comes back to the starting point.   As you are tracing the line, the path and any passed stops will be shown in red.	Upon completing your route, and clicking on your starting point, your line, and all established stops you pass will turn green.
Once your line has turned green, simply click on the green check mark on the bottom center window, and...	VOILA!!! Route #2 has been officially established.  You can add stops either before or after determining your route, whichever works best for you!

2 - HOW TO: Add Transit Stops!	Use the "stops" icon located in the second column of the toolbox, and select the stop type most appropriate for your need, select it, and then move your mouse about the gamemap.  As you highlight a square, you'll notice many of the surrouding buildings glowing.  This indicates the "catchment area" of the bus stop, should you locate it in this square.
Simply click your mouse to establish your bus stop, and wait for it to fill!	The map window located on the bottom of the screen, is a powerful, valualbe tool.  For example clicking on a bus stop will light up its catchment area in Green, as well as show the intended destinations of everyone within the catchment area.  The yellow squiggly line is the #2 line just established.

3 - HOW TO: Equip Your Line!

Click on the VEHICLES icon in the toolbar, this will bring a listing of your current fleet inventory up.  To purchase more vehicles, click on the money tab located above (arrow).

Scroll up or down until you find the vehicle that suits your need, and click on the money tab once for each vehicle you wish to purchase.  Then, open your Routes utilities, and highlight the desired route, and click on the assign/unassign tab.  This will show all available vehicles to assign.  When you find the one you want, simply click on the Left Arrow to assign (right arrow will pull the vehicle off the line), and....

In a matter of seconds, your vehicle is in service and ready to pick up.  How's that for deadhead time!

SOME HELPFUL SCREENS:

A listing of all routes can be found in the Utilities Screen, showing mode, designation, number of stops, number of vehicles, and profitability.

Highlight any route and click on the Green "i" for detailed information on individual lines.

	Model:	Capacity:	Speed:	Attractiveness:	Service Costs:	Price:	Outlook:
	MD City Fox	10	50	30	150	15000	A homely, low capacity utility vehicle well suited for shuttle lines to remore areas.  The "Fords" of the fleet.
	BAR MC2	20	50	25	300	30000	Low capacity utility bus of the BAR lineup works well on suburban shuttles.
	BAR MC3	30	50	25	450	45000	Medium Capacity BAR model works well among shorter city shuttles and leisure lines, or lighter traffic commuter hauls.
	BAR MC4	40	50	25	600	60000	Workhorse of the BAR lineup offers high capacity travel at a reasonable price.
	MAM GLX2	30	50	30	400		Modern RTS Lookalike offers more attractiveness with lower servicing costs.
	MAM GLX4	60	50	40	800		Modern and attractive, the GLX4 offers the highest capacity to date in a single deck coach.
	LT Elephant	80	50	35	1300		With a lack of Artics available, there is no where to go but up, to a second deck, and the bus for all your highest capacity bus routes.
	MD Weasel	20	50	40	200		Homely to most, the Weasel offers clean efficient electric travel today!
	MD FuturTec	50	50	50	500		The RTS is ever there was one, the Futurtec has the added environmental advantage of being hydrogen powered!
	Bajo CT100	120	50	40	2000		The ideal tram for those just starting, the CT100 offers the lowest price of any streetcar.
	GenEc X3/2R	120	50	45	2500		With it's classic european styling, the GenEc tram has little else to offer over the base model Bajo.
	Bajo CT120	140	50	45	3000		A slight increase in capacity and aesthetics over earlier models, with an added increase in maintenance costs.
	S&B NaP 20	180	80	50	2000		First generation of Heavy Commuter Rail trains, the NaP20 is a nice choice.
	S&B NaP40	180	80	60	2500		Aesthetically pleasing perhaps, but didn't sloping ends doom NYC's R-40's?!?

As new vehicles are introduced each January, title screens pop up to alert you to their availablity, as well as their statistics.

A pair of MAM buses head down a country road on a suburban run, neither of which has many riders to show for it.

Having just emerged on a new line to demonstrate it, this MD Futurtec pulls up to a city street corner.