Things I do to alleviate traffic:
#1The use of 25 plots: With this much buildable area, space is a non-issue to do the following:
#2 I don’t build on every road, both sides of each road everywhere all the time. Place some parks, leave a few open lots. This is not SC2013 you have the space to work with so work with it.
#3 Cims will walk and in many cases walk very far. Make sure they have the side-walks and pedestrian over passes to get around your city. If you think ‘pedestrian’ city first and traffic second when building your city you will see much better traffic flow results. Just pretend it is the year 1850 when you are first building your city and cars have not been invented yet.
#4 Some roads I build on only one side not both. If traffic is heavy in one direction more than another in a certain area(s) of the city then provide vehicles will a bit of a quasi-express way by not having traffic turn into and out of businesses/shops on both sides of the road. If you use rule #1 then there will be zero space issues.
#5 Some roads in the city I won’t develop at all. It is just a road. Plant some trees and give traffic flow a break. If you use rule #1 again space is simply not an issue.
#6 Watch other mayor’s videos. You will see and hear things that will help you as they have helped me
#7 Short bus routes. Long, multiple stop bus routes produce two things: more busses which leads to more traffic. Do not overlap bus routes. In real life this is necessary but here not so much. One bus route one area. Stop placing multiple bus lines on the same road.
#8 I don’t build on corners or intersections, EVER. While one developed (shops, industry, residence) intersection may just produce a little bit more delay (as cars/trucks pull in and out of one building on an intersection) now multiply that small delay by dozens/hundreds/thousands within your city. Each little delay adds up. Provide cims with just one thing to do at intersections: drive. Don’t allow them to wait for a light, wait for a car to pull out of a house or a truck to pull out of or into a shop. Become an intersection building free city and you will see positive results.
#9 Express ways! One way roads (that I usually raise) to get cims from the inner city to the highway quickly and easily without the use of traffic lights, merging, busses etc. I don’t use or need many of these however they work really well with getting vehicles out of the inner city and onto the highway system.
#10 Trains. I provide my cargo terminals much free-unbuilt space around them so that the delivery trucks can get in and out very easily. Do not build industry, shops etc. around cargo terminals. On the road next to the terminals or the block beyond that either. Keep this area free and clear. Place some trees, put in a park or some other pretty thingy. Just don’t develop the area around your cargo terminals.
#11 Trains part 2. Never build just one terminal. I always build two. Build one and watch the truck/delivery traffic. Then build your second one nearby and then watch your truck/delivery traffic. You will see a massive reduction in traffic and delays.
#12 Love the DOZER! The road network you built for your 30k – 50k city may have worked fine but now you are over 100k in population and traffic is a mess? Bulldoze and rebuild. So many mayors try to fit a 100k populous into a road system they designed for a 50k populous. Stop trying to fit 20 gallons of water into that 10 gallon mayoral hat you are wearing. Bulldoze and re-build!
#13 One way roads. I don’t use many and sometimes they are used just temporarily as a quick way to get traffic out of the city and onto the highway system. They can be a bit tricky to use for an all over city road system however when I use them sparingly I see much better results. I would say that one way roads are more beneficial to the more experienced mayor rather than someone who is just starting to learn the game.
#14 Remember it is just a game. It is not real life. Cims are not people. So often I see pics/videos or read descriptions of mayors trying to make cims people or people cims. They are not the same. The sooner I realized that and played accordingly the easier and easier the game and traffic got. You are going to have to separate the two.
#15 Round-a-bouts. I have one in use. I have ZERO traffic issues. I know not everyone builds cities the same way. I just caution you if you think that rounders are the be all end all when it comes to traffic issues. While they may work splendidly for some mayors that may not be the case for you as it is not the case for me. Use the road system(s) you know. The state I live in I think I have seen 3 round-a-bouts? So for me trying to master something I know little about may not be the best path to take, so I really don’t take it. If you are accustomed to them by all means use them however they may not be the answer to your traffic issues.
#16 Watch your traffic flow. Take some time and just watch first before building, destroying, re-building and getting all P. O. ‘d. Listen to what the traffic is telling you. Don’t make the mistake of thinking “this is how I built it so this is how it should go.” Let the traffic tell you, don’t tell the traffic. Take a breath, relax and just watch your city in motion.
Now if your heck bent on only using the 9 plots in the vanilla game; good luck with that!
If you think I don’t have traffic, think again.
Cities are synonymous with traffic. It is the crippling traffic I am addressing.
#1The use of 25 plots: With this much buildable area, space is a non-issue to do the following:
#2 I don’t build on every road, both sides of each road everywhere all the time. Place some parks, leave a few open lots. This is not SC2013 you have the space to work with so work with it.
#3 Cims will walk and in many cases walk very far. Make sure they have the side-walks and pedestrian over passes to get around your city. If you think ‘pedestrian’ city first and traffic second when building your city you will see much better traffic flow results. Just pretend it is the year 1850 when you are first building your city and cars have not been invented yet.
#4 Some roads I build on only one side not both. If traffic is heavy in one direction more than another in a certain area(s) of the city then provide vehicles will a bit of a quasi-express way by not having traffic turn into and out of businesses/shops on both sides of the road. If you use rule #1 then there will be zero space issues.
#5 Some roads in the city I won’t develop at all. It is just a road. Plant some trees and give traffic flow a break. If you use rule #1 again space is simply not an issue.
#6 Watch other mayor’s videos. You will see and hear things that will help you as they have helped me
#7 Short bus routes. Long, multiple stop bus routes produce two things: more busses which leads to more traffic. Do not overlap bus routes. In real life this is necessary but here not so much. One bus route one area. Stop placing multiple bus lines on the same road.
#8 I don’t build on corners or intersections, EVER. While one developed (shops, industry, residence) intersection may just produce a little bit more delay (as cars/trucks pull in and out of one building on an intersection) now multiply that small delay by dozens/hundreds/thousands within your city. Each little delay adds up. Provide cims with just one thing to do at intersections: drive. Don’t allow them to wait for a light, wait for a car to pull out of a house or a truck to pull out of or into a shop. Become an intersection building free city and you will see positive results.
#9 Express ways! One way roads (that I usually raise) to get cims from the inner city to the highway quickly and easily without the use of traffic lights, merging, busses etc. I don’t use or need many of these however they work really well with getting vehicles out of the inner city and onto the highway system.
#10 Trains. I provide my cargo terminals much free-unbuilt space around them so that the delivery trucks can get in and out very easily. Do not build industry, shops etc. around cargo terminals. On the road next to the terminals or the block beyond that either. Keep this area free and clear. Place some trees, put in a park or some other pretty thingy. Just don’t develop the area around your cargo terminals.
#11 Trains part 2. Never build just one terminal. I always build two. Build one and watch the truck/delivery traffic. Then build your second one nearby and then watch your truck/delivery traffic. You will see a massive reduction in traffic and delays.
#12 Love the DOZER! The road network you built for your 30k – 50k city may have worked fine but now you are over 100k in population and traffic is a mess? Bulldoze and rebuild. So many mayors try to fit a 100k populous into a road system they designed for a 50k populous. Stop trying to fit 20 gallons of water into that 10 gallon mayoral hat you are wearing. Bulldoze and re-build!
#13 One way roads. I don’t use many and sometimes they are used just temporarily as a quick way to get traffic out of the city and onto the highway system. They can be a bit tricky to use for an all over city road system however when I use them sparingly I see much better results. I would say that one way roads are more beneficial to the more experienced mayor rather than someone who is just starting to learn the game.
#14 Remember it is just a game. It is not real life. Cims are not people. So often I see pics/videos or read descriptions of mayors trying to make cims people or people cims. They are not the same. The sooner I realized that and played accordingly the easier and easier the game and traffic got. You are going to have to separate the two.
#15 Round-a-bouts. I have one in use. I have ZERO traffic issues. I know not everyone builds cities the same way. I just caution you if you think that rounders are the be all end all when it comes to traffic issues. While they may work splendidly for some mayors that may not be the case for you as it is not the case for me. Use the road system(s) you know. The state I live in I think I have seen 3 round-a-bouts? So for me trying to master something I know little about may not be the best path to take, so I really don’t take it. If you are accustomed to them by all means use them however they may not be the answer to your traffic issues.
#16 Watch your traffic flow. Take some time and just watch first before building, destroying, re-building and getting all P. O. ‘d. Listen to what the traffic is telling you. Don’t make the mistake of thinking “this is how I built it so this is how it should go.” Let the traffic tell you, don’t tell the traffic. Take a breath, relax and just watch your city in motion.
Now if your heck bent on only using the 9 plots in the vanilla game; good luck with that!
If you think I don’t have traffic, think again.
Cities are synonymous with traffic. It is the crippling traffic I am addressing.
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