Version 1.7.0

We added precision to microeconomics to improve decisions influenced by transport costs

• Cost of living got way more realistic. Before this every adult paid a flat $1366/month no matter what. Now costs are broken down into food, clothing, phone, fun, utilities, internet, gas, etc. Couples split household bills. Car owners pay for gas.
• Free bus fare actually changes behavior now. When bus fare is $0, about 4.5% of car owners who have bus access will take the bus instead of driving. This comes from the German 9-Euro ticket study. It also affects the car market: fewer people want to buy cars when buses are free.
• Idle buses burn fuel. When no passengers ride the bus that day the sim still tracks mileage and energy costs for all active buses running their routes. Before this it only tracked mileage for one random bus and didn’t charge fuel.
• Factory disapproval aura. Factories now emit a disapproval aura of 3 points. This is the NIMBY effect: nobody wants to live next to a factory. Upper income households will try to move away from them.