These expenses are listed to give the players some idea of the average living expenses in Wa-Daisho. Note that these are totally separate from the average cost of food and household materials as found in Wa-Daisho, which may be viewed on the Overview of Cost of Goods. Note that ALL buildings built in Wa-Daisho are designed to absorb tremors without sustaining major structural damage, due to the seismic activity in Wa-Daisho.
Land
10'x10' section in a city or town costs 100 credits.
100'x100' section purchased as farm land costs 250 credits. This land can be sold to private parties, but at no higher cost than the government issued price of 100 credits per 10'x10' section.
Domiciles - Rent
Apartment: 100+150 per bedroom; max is 5.
House: 250+125 per bedroom.
Domiciles - Purchase
Apartment Building: A 50 Apartment building runs approximately 250,000 credits. (Keep in mind that annual maintenance, taxes, custodians, and superintendent costs about 50,000 credits a year - so it doesn't make money by just snapping your' fingers.)
Houses: A good, two bedroom house, costs about 15,000 credits, plus an additional 10,000 credits per additional bedroom.
Commercial Establishments - Rent
Store: 250 credits per 20'x20' area the store covers; this does not include the cost of the applicable permits.
Merchant Drive: Open Market Space: 20 credits per 10'x10' space, per day. There are 250 merchant spaces on Merchant Drive, none of which are allowed to sell drugs or weapons unless they own the applicable permits. No Open Market Merchant is allowed to be open any more than 2 days a week, OR 28 days in a total year - meaning that a craftsman may keep a canopied table with his wares on it, for two days every week, OR he could work all year, and then have his shop open for 28 days straight. To work any more than this would be fraud, or would require a Merchant's Permit.
Dock Space: The docks at Wa-Daisho are owned by the government, with the exception of the public access to the south of the city of Wa-Daisho. The government dock space on the south bay only has docks for small vessels, up to 100' in length. The cost of dock space on these docks is 50 credits per 10' of length of dock space. The west bay has docks for up to 1,200' length vessels, and provides dock space for the same as the south bay, but above 100' in length, they increase the price by only 10 credits per 10' of length of dock space. (Thus a 1,200' long beast would be 1,600 credits.) The charges for the government owned dock space is per day. The public access has dock space for small vessels, up to 60' in length, and costs 10 credits per every hour of use of a 10' space. They only cater to pleasure craft, however.
Commercial Establishments - Purchase
Store: 1,500 credits per 10'x10' area the store covers; this does not include the cost of applicable permits, the cost of the land, the annual taxes paid, or the wages of the employees.
Dock Space: The government will NOT sell dock space to anyone, but will rent space out for six months at a time. The cost for this long term space rental is 1,500 credits per 10' of space, for six months. The Public Access will provide similar long term space rental, for a comparable price.
Utlities Services
Wa-Daisho Public Utilities Services: The power system of Wa-Daisho, *phone services, water purification facilities, sewage systems, and all waste managements are government owned and regulated. The charge is monthly, and amounts to a base pay of 150 credits a month. Additional phones to add to a household service costs an additional 50 credits. Factories and similar Businesses that use a great deal of power however, receive special rates and are charted on a meter, to be charged according to power usage.
WaNet Service: WaNet, based in the Wa-Daisho Public Library offers a form of Internet to the people of Wa-Daisho. It's an easy form of communication, research, and entertainment, hence why it was introduced. Cost is 15 credits a month. See the Wa-Daisho Public Library for details of it's services.
* Note that all phone services are cellular phones, superior in quality and clarity to early 21st century cell phones, and work only on the island of Wa-Daisho. Battery quality is vastly improved - having a life span of 48 hours, and can be recharged in under fifteen minutes.
Transportation
Wa-Daisho's transportation systems are divided among numerous different systems.
Cars & Similar Road vehicles are commonly available in Wa-Daisho, BUT are almost exclusively (88%) Electric powered! These vehicles are most often available from S-Mart, but an owner may transport a vehicle from almost manufacturer to Wa-Daisho. Although not technically illegal, the use of gas powered vehicles is discouraged. Because of this, natural gas as a form of propellant is charged at no less than 10 credits a gallon.
Mass Transit is provided to the people of Wa-Daisho in the form of a taxi service driving S-Mart Quetzalcoatle vans, at a rate of 5 credits a mile, and a credit a minute for service time, which in the city of Wa-Daisho is usually quite cheap. Bus service is also provided for the people of Wa-Daisho by ten S-Mart Mack trucks with 30' bus trailers, at a rate of 1 credit per person, BUT also has the disadvantage of taking longer than the taxi service does.
Air Transport Service is also provided for the people of Wa-Daisho. A number of amphibious planes, as produced by S-Mart, provide service from Wa-Daisho to Water Point Preserve, Desert Star, Hope Barony, New Hope (Half way down California Coast.), Kyatashiro, Lazlo, New Lazlo, El Paso, Tritonia, Kingsdale and Tolkeen. Usually, unlike Pre-RIFTS Airlines, flights are booked until the aircraft has at least 75% of it's maximum passenger compliment, or has enough freight/mail to take up the remaining space, before a flight will depart. During slow periods of time, it could be sometimes as long as a week before an entire flight is booked. When they find themselves falling short on multiple flights heading in the same general direction however, the Air Transport Service occasionally will transport passengers going to more than one location - stopping over in one stop to allow passengers to get off, before heading to the next location. In either case, it's best to schedule ahead. These rates are as follows;
Water Point Preserve: 75 credits a *person.
Desert Star, Hope, or New Hope: 200 credits a *person.
†Kyatashiro: 450 credits a *person.
†Lazlo, New Lazlo, El Paso, or Tritonia: 650 credits a *person.
†Kingsdale or Tolkeen: 1,400 credits a *person, and requires special arrangements with the Republican Council.
* Must be under 8'/350 Lbs - or increase price by 100 credits per 1' or 100 Lbs, to a maximum of 10' and 750 Lbs.
† These routes take special arrangements, that require additional fees. IN addition to these prior arrangements necessary, 2-4 escort aircraft are REQUIRED for these aircraft to fly their course. These escort aircraft are typically flown by mercenary pilots, or by Wa-Daisho airmen who have volunteered to fly the escort mission for a pay bonus.
Sea Transport is quite common as well. Dozens of vessels, both small and large, go in and out of Wa-Daisho's territorial water every day. Most of these come from Kyatashiro, and New Hope but some have come from ports much further away. Booking passage on a ship, can cost a variety of different prices and could lead to countless adventures - but can cost anywhere from a 20 credit ride on a ferry from Wa-Daisho to Water Point Preserve, to 2,000 credits for a ride to the unexplored and unfamiliar terrain of Asia. Most vessels coming to, and leaving from Wa-Daisho however cost 200-600 credits to go from Wa-Daisho to New Hope, Water Point Preserve, Republican, or Tritonia.
Alliance Postal Service
Wa-Daisho, in concert with the other Allied Nations, have nurtured an extensive postal service, to allow for communications among the Allied Nations, and other free nations. Despite their efforts, the mail is very slow. It is because of these slow conditions, that independent postal services have also come into service, for exclusive delivery, and courier service. Here are some of the commonly available rates;
Alliance Air Mail: 5 credits to anywhere in Water Point Preserve, Desert Star, Hope Barony, and New Hope (Half way down California Coast.). Letters and small packages (up to 10 Lbs) are usually delivered to the native postal systems of the nations in question, in 5-14 days. (Once in that nation it could take 2-10 days to be in the hands of the recipient giving a total window of 7-24 days, provided that the package is not being forwarded to another city or nation near by.)
Alliance Air Mail: 15 credits to anywhere in Kyatashiro, Lazlo, New Lazlo, El Paso, and Tritonia. Letters and small packages (up to 10 Lbs) are usually delivered to the native postal systems of the nations in question, in 10-30 days. (Once in that nation, it could take 2-10 days to be in the hands of the recipient giving a total window of 12-40 days, provided that the package is not being forwarded to another city or nation near by.)
Alliance Air Mail: 35 credits to anywhere in Kingsdale or Tolkeen. Letters and small packages (up to 10 Lbs) are usually delivered to the native postal systems of the nations in question, in 10-30 days. (Once in that nation, it could take 2-10 days to be in the hands of the recipient giving a total window of 12-40 days, provided that the package is not being forwarded to another city or nation near by. Also note that packages and letters heading for Tolkeen will likely be opened and read. Things of value will likely be stolen, especially precious metals or jewels for the war effort. Any items of media, vids, CDs, magazines, news papers, or anything like that will NOT be allowed into the country and will likely be destroyed rather than sent back. Note that this exception ONLY applies to Tolkeen.)
Alliance Surface Mail: 1 credit to anywhere in Wa-Daisho for letters and small packages (10 Lbs or less). This mail is typically carried by postal vehicles around the city, as well as to the outlying regions of the island. To the small mining establishment on the coast of British Columbia, it is carried by hovercraft or amphibious aircraft.
Alliance Surface Mail: 3 credits to Water Point Preserve & New Hope for letters and small packages (10 Lbs or less). Those going to Water Point Preserve are carried by ferry or hovercraft, while those heading for New Hope must be carried on larger watercraft.
Alliance Surface Mail: 5 credits to Kyatashiro & Republican. These MUST be carried by large watercraft.
Pony Express: The Pony Express is an independent service that has begun offering courier services to the people of Wa-Daisho. They transport letters and packages that weigh less than a pound only! Their territory covers Wa-Daisho, Water Point Preserve, New Hope, Clarkdale Confederacy, Desert Star, Silvereno, Hope, Charity, El Paso, and Ciudad Juarez. These services typically range from 20 credits in Wa-Daisho to 150 credits for those heading as far south as Ciudad Juarez. It is kept running by a pair of jockies that operate a pair of Northern Gun Patrol Cars (Knock offs of CS Patrol Cars.) It's service is fast, typically less than a week from receipt to delivery.
Dragon Mail: An adventurous hatchling Great Horned Dragon, named Flamer, started this service after watching "The Postman" one too many times on the Syndicated Channel. He charges only 10 credits to go virtually anywhere in the American West. Unless the object in transport smells really sweet, it'll almost always make it there within a week to six weeks, depending on what really strikes his fancy while he's out carrying the mail. He flies wherever he goes, carrying a plain looking weatherproofed canvas bag, with a waterproof zipper seal. Better consider your' recipient however - because more than one recipient has cowered in fear as the 30' lizard drops a love letter in front of them!