GT:FT System for Modelling Trade

Interstellar Passenger Traffic[/u][/size]

The movement of poeple is nearly as important to the interstellar economy as the movement of goods. Business travellers pave the way for the goods that follow by closing deals and opening new markets. Scientists and technicians carry with them a great deal of specialised knowledge. Labourers on "guest worker" visas relieve local labour shortages and earn precious foreign exchange that can be used to import goods into their homeworld. Even tourists contribute to the interstellar economy by earning money one place and spending it another.

The Bilateral Trade Number is also used to determine the volume of passenger traffic between worlds. Since passenger traffic is influenced by different factors than freight traffic, we can use Effective BTN for passenger volume. Effective BTN equals regular BTN with these modifiers:

• Each world that is a Rich (Ri) world: +0.5.¹
  
• Each world that is a subsector capital: +0.5.²
  
• Each world that is a sector capital: +1.²

Notes:

¹ Rich worlds are attractive tourist destinations due to their Earth-like environments.

² Capital worlds attract touriests and, more importantly, a stead flow of industry and government travellers doing the Imperium's business.

To determine the number of passengers travelling between a pair of worlds for a given time period, refer to the table below:



Abbreviations: k = thousand; M = million.

Notes:

¹ Available for free traders to transport; the total number will be higher.

To find the actual value for a world pair:

• Ranges beginning with 1: Roll 1d-1 (rerolling 1s) for the first digit and 2d-2 for the others.
  
• Ranges beginning with 5: Roll 1d+4 for the first digit and 2d-2 for the the others.

Average passenger traffice volumes are constrained to be the same for both worlds in the pair. The passenger traffic figures are for travel, not emigration, so all trips are assumed to be round trips. The GM is free to introduce mass migration into his game, but this is best done on a case-by-case basis.

Trade Routes

Knowing the amount of trade between pairs of worlds does not give a complete picture of interstellar shipping. Trade flows along routes: from X boat routes travelled by many huge express freighters a day to out-of-the-way mains that see only a few small merchants a week. The degree of activity along a route determines things like what sorts of ships can be found there, how much traffic can be expected at the starports, and the odds of finding certain kinds of cargoes or passengers. Perhaps most importantly for free traders and other tramp ships, it shows where competition with established companies can be avoided.

Trade routes are classified according to BTN along those routes:

Main routes (BTN 10+) have dtons of cargo/week in the high tens of thousands to millions range, or more. Many 1,000 dton freighters and somewhat fewer 10,000 dton super-freighters will typically work these routes.

Feeder routes (BTN 9+) have dtons of cargo/week in the high thousands to low tens of thousands range. About eight 1,000+ dtopn freighters plus a dozen or more free traders will typically work these routes.

Minor routes (BTN 8+) have dtons of cargo/week in the high hundreds to low thousands range. On the order of a half-dozen liners and another half-dozen tramp ships will typically work these routes, all well under 1,000 dtons. Larger commercial vessels are only rarely seen.

Mapping Trade Routes

Creating trade-route maps is both an art and a science. These guidelines are intended to make an otherwise confusing task more systematic and to make maps of the same place look as similar as possible when drawn by different people.

Before drawing a map, you will need the complete economic statistics for your subsector. With these in hand, begin with the highest WTN world and draw all of the Main Routes for it. Then drawn the Main routes for the world with the next-highest WTN and so on, until all Main Routes have been drawn in. Repeat this process for Feeder Routes, once again starting with the highest WTN world and working down. Repeat this again for Minor Routes.

Remember to follow jump-2 routes. Jumps longer than two parsecs are only permitted along X-boat routes or when a route of at least Feeder magnitude can save a jump or more by using a jump-3 route. The likelihood of a jumnp-3 route existing increases when such a route can be used to avoid poor starports, Amber Zones or worlds of different allegiance. Having other jump-3 routes in the vicinity helps as well, since ships cna switch between them and manage capacity better.

If three or more routes of a particular size pass between two worlds, replace them with one route the next size up. For instance, if three Feeder Routes pass between Collace and Mertactor, they should be replaced by one Main Route. This would likely be the result of traffic from several sets of trading partners on either side of Collace and Mertactor passing through these two worlds.

If a world has no route, but has enough trade going through a particularly neighbour to add up to a Minor route, go ahead and gift it on.

If the background seems to suggest that a route is necessary where none exists, go ahead and add on. Conversely, if a route exists where the background suggests that a lesser route or no route should exist, it can be down-graded or eliminated. use this freedom carefully, since it can quickly lead to arbitrary maps.

When there's a choice between two paths for a route, always take the one with the most traffic already on it.