Subway Builder

Subway Builder is a transit simulation game that uses real-world data to generate millions of commuters. You design subway routes to get as many people as possible to their destinations quickly, balancing station locations, transfers, train frequency, cost and travel time.

Commuter simulation

Commuters choose how to travel based on journey time, cost and the value of their time, which varies with their income. They are assigned homes using census records and workplaces through a distance-based gravity model, with departure times distributed to resemble real patterns. College and airport commuters are also simulated, with different income distributions and travel times; their numbers are based on federal data and FAA data, respectively.

You can follow individual journeys alongside thousands of others. Delayed or cancelled trains affect commuters’ trips, and future commuters take those disruptions into account. Station overcrowding or running too many trains on a line can also cause delays or disruptions.

Analyze your network

The game shows which routes, stations and trains commuters use, so you can adjust your network. You can examine how people weigh wait times, transfers, income, delays and other factors when choosing a commute, then use that information to balance operating costs against travel time and maximize ridership.

Cities and data

The simulation draws on census records for home and workplace locations in the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Switzerland, New Zealand and Japan. It uses a distance-based gravity model to assign workplaces and data reflecting real-life departure-time patterns. A broadband connection is required to maintain the real data used by the game.

The available cities are:

• United States: Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Honolulu, Houston, Indianapolis, Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, St Louis and Washington.
• United Kingdom: Birmingham, Liverpool, London, Manchester and Newcastle.
• France: Paris, Marseille and Lyon.
• Japan: Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Sendai and Hiroshima.
• Switzerland: Geneva and Zurich.
• New Zealand: Auckland and Wellington.
• Ireland: Dublin.