Passenger satisfaction

Each month Wira Bandar PC asks the riders of every passenger line (buses, trams, trains, ships and aircraft) how satisfied they are, as a score from 0 to 100%. The score comes from six things riders notice: how long they wait, how crowded the vehicles are, whether they run on time, what they pay, and how good and comfortable the vehicles are. Satisfied riders rate your stations better and make their town happier, and the town thinks better of your company.

Where you see it

In the line window (see lines): Passengers’ satisfaction last month and, below it, the six parts, each from 0 to 100.

13 modern buses: riders hardly wait and find seats, but the buses run in bunches, so punctuality is only 19 and satisfaction 76%.

In the station window: click Ratings in its bottom row. Riders’ satisfaction with the lines here is the average of the passenger lines that stop at the station, and it says what that does to the passenger rating.

85% satisfaction raises the station's passenger rating by 3%.

In the town window: Happiness: 46% (riders’ satisfaction 82%), the average of the town’s stations.

The town window shows riders' satisfaction next to the town's happiness.

A line gets a score only in months when it left its first stop; until then the line window says Passengers’ satisfaction: worked out each month. Lines that carry no passengers say no passengers on this line.

The six parts

Part	Weight	100 when	Less when
Waiting	25%	the average wait at the first stop is at most a tenth of a round trip (at least 2 days)	a quarter less for each such stretch longer
Crowding	20%	vehicles leave stops at most 60% full on average	2 points less for each percent fuller, and 10 less when one left full
Punctuality	20%	departures are on time (with a timetable), or evenly spaced (without one)	without a timetable: 30 less for each extra wait as long as the wait with even spacing
Fares	15%	rides are free, or cost at most half the standard fare	75 at the standard fare, a point less for each 2% dearer
Condition	10%	the vehicles are reliable	it is their average reliability
Comfort	10%	air-conditioned city buses (85), quieter electric ones (95)	older buses 55 (35 in the tropics), other vehicles 70; 2 less a year from five years old

• Waiting is measured at the line’s first stop (see lines).
• Crowding for trains also counts crowded railway platforms, whichever is worse (see metro and rail).
• Punctuality with a timetable is the share of departures from the first stop between a day early and three days late.
• Fares count the price level of the line’s fare (see fares): 100% scores 75, 150% 50, 200% 25.
• Comfort counts the game’s own city buses as air-conditioned (see buses). It drops by 2 a year for vehicles over five years old, by 30 at most.

What it changes

• Stations: passengers rate a station up to 5% better when its lines score 100%, and up to 8% worse at 0%. At 60% nothing changes.
• Towns: a town’s happiness goes up or down by up to 10 points with the average of its stations (no change at 50%; see city services for what happiness does).
• Your standing with the town: every month, the satisfaction at your own stations in a town raises or lowers the town’s rating of your company. Satisfied riders can lift it up to Very Good.
• Satisfaction is also one of the things voters weigh in state elections.

In a test with 13 modern buses on a town line, the line scored 78%, its weakest part punctuality (the buses bunched). At twice the price the same line scored 71% (fares 25); with only 4 buses, 63% (waiting 32); and with 8 old buses, 58% (comfort 55, punctuality 8). The town’s happiness rose from 40% to 45% with its riders at 76%.

Raise it

• Waiting: more vehicles on the line, and a target frequency with even spacing so they don’t bunch.
• Crowding: bigger buses or more of them where vehicles leave stops more than 60% full.
• Punctuality: even spacing, or a timetable your vehicles can keep.
• Fares: keep the price at 100% or below; free fares and half the standard fare score 100.
• Condition: service the vehicles; give their depot enough workshops (see depots); replace old ones.
• Comfort: run the modern city buses, electric if you can, and renew vehicles as they age.

In the first bus network tutorial, even spacing alone took a four-bus line from 57% to 82%.

Switching it off

There is nothing to switch off: every passenger line gets a score each month. Lines that don’t carry passengers are left out.

See also

• Lines: the line window and even spacing
• Fares: the fares part and the fare effect on ratings
• Modern and electric buses: comfort
• Metro and rail: crowded platforms