I know in the PS2 version from casual play, each customer appears in set locations with set destinations. If you can build a map with a list of where each costumer can appear and the price vs time ratios, you can create a circuit where you follow a set route in a circle the entire run. If somebody has the dedication, each customer can be mapped to their location using time taken to reach it. Then each destination can be mapped to nearby customers using time taken to reach him/her. Base fares should be consistent and easy to add to the data. All you need then is have a computer find the fastest route for the run.
You can increase the Fare, end of Fare tip and get extra time if you perform tricks/stunts. Jumps are the best for money. Followed by drift then through. There's an old woman on the roof of the building just outside the Parking Lot. She wants to go to the police station. With tricks, I get about $1.1K from her. The mall also has a few quick deliveries. The worst place to do fares is near the Fire Station to the College. Blind hill climb and going through the split area. Too long for not enough money.
From the ps2 tas it might actually be more rewarding to take longer routes. Waiting for the customer to enter your car is really slow to the other gameplay, so one could try to minimize customers. On the longer routes you get so much more money for the near-collisions. The highway seems really rewarding for the number of cars.
Red Shirt-Plaid Skirt - Orange - Cable Car Stop TOP - 528yd - $164.40 - 3.212$/yd
Yellow Long Sleeve-Green Dark Pants - Orange - Cable Car Stop TOP - 502yd - $157.19 - 3.194$/yd
Visor-Lightning Shirt-Grey Pants - Orange - Cable Car Stop TOP - 504yd - $158.09 - 3.188$/yd
Behind Start - Video Cam Guy - Green - Cable Car Stop BOTTOM - 1226yd - $425.95 - 2.878$/yd
Behind Start - Sun Hat Girl - Green - Cable Car Stop BOTTOM - 1205yd - $425.01 - 2.835$/ydsolarplex, Playing by arcade rules means you start with 35 seconds. But you get more time by picking up fares. Deliver them fast to get more time. If you get there when the passenger's time is green, you get +5 seconds, Yellow +2 seconds (I think) and Red is worth nothing? The game also says, "Time Bonus" if you deliver the fare with a combo. Though, I don't know if there is a time bonus.
Is there an option to enable a speedometer? or is that a PS2-only UI thing / missing because of an emulation bug? The PS2 TAS seems to drive over 200 km/h quite often, judging from this test WIP it doesn't seem like you go that fast.
I just started playing again and can barely do a Crazy Dash. I forgot how hard and precise the timing is. The only advice I can give is to practice. Doing a Crazy Dash is so precise, it almost requires muscle memory to execute consistently. About the route, you shouldn't focus on getting the customers to their destinations as soon as possible. The remaining time is added to the fare as a bonus but if you rack up a large combo, you may earn a lot more in tips from messing around compared to the bonus from the time left.
The Cable Car Stop Top was a little sloppy. Is it possible to stop with out getting a bad position? Because your start from there was a little rough. But otherwise, oh yea! That Drift at the Bottom Cable Car Stop was impressive. Even with traffic density at max, you don't care. Nicely done. The WR run for GC is $118,640.52 It used easy difficulty and 70 seconds starting time. Let's shame them all!
