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Subway Builder is a transit simulation game for Windows, macOS and Linux. This wiki is a place for Subway Builder players to better understand the game.
Gameplay
The game is based around building rapid-transit systems in real-world cities based on real-world data, such as population centers and employment centers. There are 26 available cities, all based in the United States. While the population data is accurate, the costs are lower on purpose because, as the developer Colin Miller said, they "make playing impossible."
The normal mode grants the player a starting budget of three billion dollars, while the sandbox mode has no constraints.
Construction
Main article: Construction
The game allows the player to place down tracks and route trains over those tracks. There are currently two types of trains: heavy metro and light metro, along with varying track elevations. Each combination of track type and elevation has its own costs associated with it.
Simulation
The US census records home and workplace locations. The game generates millions of commuters with homes from that and then uses a distance-based gravity model to assign them all workplaces. They're also assigned times to leave to/from work in a distribution similar to real life.
This decision is then made based on how long each commute method takes, how much it costs, and the value of their time (different commuters can have different incomes).
If they decide to take the subway you can follow their commute (and thousands of others simultaneously) as they get to work. If a train is delayed or cancelled, it will affect their commute and future commuters will take that into account.
College and airport commuters are also simulated and they behave differently since they have different income distributions and commuting times. Federal data is used for college student counts and FAA data for airports.
Relevant Research
Cities
Due to data availability, only major American cities are currently implemented in Subway Builder. Adding International Cities from outside of the United States is currently planned for Winter 2025.
- Atlanta — Tame endless sprawl in the car-dependent capital of the New South
- Austin — Tame Texas' fastest-growing tech boom with underground rapid transit
- Baltimore — Connect harbor neighborhoods in the scrappy Charm City
- Boston — Navigate America's oldest subway network through twisted colonial streets
- Charlotte — Build the Queen City her crown with a banking district worthy of rails
- Chicago — Master the perfect grid and elevated curves of the Windy City
- Cincinnati — Span the mighty Ohio River and conquer extreme hillside terrain
- Cleveland — Revitalize the Rock Hall city with electric rails along Lake Erie shores
- Dallas — Cross the Trinity River floodplain in the heart of Texas oil country
- Denver — Build high-altitude transit through the Mile High sprawl at the Rockies edge
- Detroit — Prove transit can thrive where the auto industry was born
- Honolulu — Transport beach-goers and commuters across paradise on island rails
- Houston — Cut through petroleum profits and highway sprawl in the Energy Capital
- Indianapolis — Break the perfect circle with radical lines through racing country
- Miami — Build hurricane-proof transit through tropical sprawl and art deco beaches
- Minneapolis — Brave brutal winters connecting the Twin Cities across frozen rivers
- New York City — Unite three islands and five boroughs in the city that never sleeps
- Philadelphia — Weave through Revolutionary War history in the City of Brotherly Love
- Pittsburgh — Tunnel through three rivers and steep valleys where steel once ruled
- Portland — Link quirky neighborhoods across the Willamette River bridges
- San Diego — Build beach-lined rapid transit through San Diego
- San Francisco — Conquer steep hills and the Bay to link tech hubs with historic neighborhoods
- Salt Lake City — Navigate wide boulevards and mountain shadows in the planned desert metropolis
- Seattle — Drill through volcanic terrain and cross Puget Sound in the rainy Emerald City
- St. Louis — Revive the Gateway to the West with modern rails beneath the Arch
- Washington, D.C. — Move millions of bureaucrats between marble monuments and sprawling suburbs
Map of available cities in Google MyMaps as of 0.7.6
Simulation
Information about how the simulation works Simulation
Latest Version
- Public: 0.8.0
Recent Versions
Community resources
- Community Portal – coordination, editing goals, and help requests
- Recent Changes – see what’s new on the wiki
- Help:Editing – learn how to format and create pages