When I first started playing OpenTTD, I treated passengers like coal: I would wait for a station to be ‘Full’ before moving them. I built a massive bus terminal and sat back, waiting for the profit to roll in. Instead, my station rating plummeted to Appalling and the passengers seemed to just… vanish.
I felt like I was failing at the most basic part of the game. It was frustrating to see a city of 5,000 people producing zero profit for my bus line. I nearly scrapped the whole road network in a huff.
Perspective Shift
I changed my thinking completely after watching the Master Hellish: Towns & Cities series. I realized that passengers have a ‘shelf life.’ Unlike coal, if they sit on a platform too long, they get ‘bored’ and leave. The problem was my ‘Full Load’ order — it was actually a ‘Profit Killer.’
I switched my buses to ‘No Loading’ or simple ‘Go To’ orders with high-frequency service. Even if the bus was only half full, the constant movement kept the station rating high and the passengers flowing. It turned my city transit from a money pit into a steady profit-maker.
Disclaimer
Do not expect passengers in buses to be a gold mine… With enough passengers you can do well and in the beginning of a game they are cheap to start with so not a bad idea – just do not think that intercity busses are going to make you rich.
What buses and mail trucks do, however is spur on city growth (not so much with towns since they have a built in lower growth rate). With up to 5 stations in a city the growth rate will be maximum. More than 5 will not cause more growth but will ‘feed’ an airport later on (see below).
New Approach
What I usually do is build four bus stations and four truck/mail stations. Two of the mail stations I join to the closest bus stations. That gives me six stations total. Two of the stations are bus and truck combined. That meets and exceeds the 5 station threshold but is convenient the way I lay them out and they end up covering the whole city.
Later I join an airport with the main ‘joined’ station. By then the passenger count of the joint bus, mail, and airport station is getting plenty of passengers and mail. That creates a good way to start a profitable airline. The other stations feed the main station and therefore the airport. By then the Local Authority rates me as ‘Outstanding’ and barely flinches when I clear land to put in an airport.
Station Layout
First of all let me preface this explanation by saying that this is with my setting the Advanced Settings such that towns use the 3 x 3 grid for roads.
With the 3 x 3 grid/ blocks I am then able to build a set of four tram passenger stations and then also add four tram mail stations on a separate tram rail. Two of the mail stations I join with the closest passenger stations. Later I join an airport to the main joined tram station that also has access to valuables. In effect I have six stations total.
No Shared Orders
None of the trams interfere with each other as they all have unique paths with one of each vehicle type going a different direction – one clockwise and one counter-clockwise. No need for shared orders and no bunching! The tracks do cross in a few places but are essentially separate and each has its own depot.
In the end I access a large portion of the city and the city authorities love me! With 5+ stations the city maximizes its growth rate.
Clarity Reflection: In the ‘Matrix’ of OpenTTD, frequency beats volume every time when it comes to people. It is better to have five small buses running a loop than one massive bus waiting to be full. Keep them moving – keep them happy.