Transport systems

Transport connects the tower. Elevators, escalators, stairs and other transport have capacity, routing and operational state; powered transport also uses Power.

People need a usable route to each destination. Congestion and slow journeys worsen commute-related room evaluation, while a power shortage can take powered transport out of service.

Practical play: build capacity before distant floors need it, spread demand across routes, and watch Traffic as population grows.

A route needs every link

A usable route includes the room entrance, a connected floor path, each transport stop and the connection to the tower entrance. A shaft passing the room's floor does not help if it does not stop there or the room cannot reach that stop.

For a small tower, start with a passenger route from the ground-floor entrance to each occupied floor. Check the room's no-route state after building or removing floors and transport. For stairs and escalators, both ends must connect to usable floor space.

Transfer example

Two lifts can serve different ranges if passengers can walk between them on a shared transfer floor. This is a schematic, not a prescribed floor count or a gameplay screenshot:

Level	Lift A	Lift B	Floor connection
Upper rooms	Does not serve this range	Serves the destination floors	Room entrances connect to B.
Shared transfer floor	Stops here	Stops here	A continuous usable floor connects the two stops.
Ground entrance	Serves the entrance	Does not need to serve ground	The entrance connects to A.

The journey is entrance → Lift A → transfer floor → Lift B → room. If A and B never share a reachable floor, the upper rooms remain disconnected even when both lifts move. If the transfer floor is cut into separate unconnected sections, add a usable connection or change the layout.

A Sky Lobby can support transfers in a tall tower, and an Express Elevator can reduce long-distance travel when its allowed stops fit the layout. Check their placement and stop rules in Elevator guide before choosing a transfer floor.

Passenger and service routes

Service Elevator is for service traffic; ordinary tenants and guests cannot use a route consisting only of service elevators. Keep a passenger route to occupied rooms as well.

Cleaning carts and worker-carried garbage have different transport restrictions from ordinary pedestrians. They need eligible elevator routes and cannot simply use a stair-only connection. A room can therefore be reachable by guests while housekeeping or garbage collection still fails. Check the worker's actual route to both the room and the disposal destination. Security patrols have their own eligible transport choices.

A practical hotel layout provides a passenger path from the entrance/front desk to bedrooms, plus eligible worker access from Housekeeping to bedrooms and Garbage destinations. The paths may share suitable passenger elevators; a separate service route can reduce competition when the tower grows.

Congestion: diagnose before adding a shaft

Symptom	Check first	Possible improvement
No route at all	Stops, floor connectivity, entrance access and allowed transport type.	Repair the missing connection; extra car capacity does not fix a disconnected route.
Long waits at a busy stop	Queues, passenger demand and the cars serving that stop.	Add an allowed car or another useful route, or shorten the served range.
A long trip despite short queues	Distance, stop count and transfers.	Use a better transfer/express arrangement or move frequently used services closer.
Cleaning or garbage falls behind	Worker transport restrictions, staffing and disposal access.	Restore an eligible service route before adding more staff.
Transport stops during a shortage	Power supply and desired demand.	Restore power capacity; additional powered cars can increase demand.

Watch Traffic, room commute evaluation and actual queues after each change. Adding rooms increases demand on existing routes; adding cars and shafts also adds construction, maintenance and power costs. Elevator guide covers elevator limits, cars, stops and upgrades in more detail.