Cities: Skylines 2

Public transportation is a central feature of Cities: Skylines 2. One of the best ways to prevent clogged roads is to give residents and businesses other ways to transport themselves and their goods.

One useful method is water transport since both cargo ships and ferries can transport vast amounts of people and goods.Getting access to these ships is as easy as buying the Water option in the Cities: Skylines 2 Transportation development tree, but getting them up and running can be more challenging.

How to Create a Shipping Lane

Cities Skylines 2 Shipping Lane — Connecting two shipping lanes in Cities: Skylines 2.

Most maps in Cities: Skylines 2 start with a pre-built shipping lane that connects to the outside world. Even if a map doesn't, players can create their own. Either way, the first step to building a connection to this outside lane is to buy access to water transport in the Development menu. This option costs two development points, and it sits on its own branch of the Transportation tree.

Next, players must build at least one cargo or ferry dock. This unlocks access to shipping lanes, which players can build and modify using all the same tool modes as road construction. The main difference is that shipping lanes don't change anything physically, they just show the areas where ships are allowed to travel. Despite this, building a shipping lane can cost a pretty penny.

Shipping lanes come in three widths: two lanes, four lanes, and six lanes. A two-lane route should be all players need for a single dock, whether it's cargo or a ferry. Players also don't have to worry about sharp corners since ships always move slowly. The one aspect of traffic to worry about is bridges: if a bridge is too close to the water, a ship won't be able to pass beneath it.

How to Set Up a Shipping Route

Cities Skylines 2 Shipping Route — Two shipping routes connect to a cargo dock in Cities: Skylines 2.

The single biggest problem with setting up shipping routes is the fact that players can only build shipping lanes on water tiles they own. This means the only way to connect a dock to the outside world is to buy enough tiles to reach one that overlaps with the pre-built shipping lanes. If no outside connection exists, players can build their own by constructing a shipping lane that reaches one of the edge tiles of the playable area.

On the bright side, players don't have to own the tiles with the outside connections to use them. Once the player's dock has a way to reach the major shipping lane, players can use the shipping route tool to put their docks to good use. Start by clicking on one of the docking nodes along the building, then click on one of the outside connection nodes, and finally click on the docking point again. Each dock has two nodes, so players can link each one to an outside connection to keep the dock as busy as possible.

Players can also use docks to transport people and goods within the map. The only change needed is to create routes that connect the docks together rather that routes that connect to the outside.

A well-sited cargo or ferry dock can keep a lot of vehicles off the streets, especially if a city's industry zones need a lot of imports or exports. The city (and thus the player) doesn't get a cut of these imports and exports, but the reduced road traffic is how water routes pay for themselves.

Cities: Skylines is available now on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.

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