Traffic lights are useless

[Bang]

Why did you make traffic lights?

[kory]

They are sooo much better than they used to be, I'm not sure what high level players do, but I use them quite happily.

[infestedchris]

Can you show an example of how to use them properly? I am curious thanks

[wilky]

Originally posted by kory:

They are sooo much better than they used to be, I'm not sure what high level players do, but I use them quite happily.

Just noticed this upon returning to the game after six months. One thing I notice is the lights appear to change instantly if there is a car waiting from one side. They appear to pass traffic a lot faster now than when first implemented.

In the early game (first several upgrades), you generally want to avoid stoplights if offered (motorways/bridges/tunnels are always best).

But by the late game (3-4000 trips), stoplights become pretty useful in places where you have crowded intersections, or sometimes I also place one at the entrance of a Circle store, and it seems to pass traffic in/out faster.

I generally find them more useful than roundabouts. Roundabouts seem like the least useful upgrade to me.

[Paparazzi]

Traffic lights bias your roads for right-hand turns. Left-hand turns on a red light cause cars to stop and lights to cycle, but cars can sail straight through lights if they are going straight or taking a right on red without losing speed.

On the flip side, if there are more cars taking a left on a red light then lights are going to cycle more often and cause jams. You have to eyeball source and destination and gauge if there's enough right-hand turns in the intersection so that the lights make sense.

[spielerinchen]

TL are not useless

[Zahkriin]

Originally posted by Paparazzi:

Traffic lights bias your roads for right-hand turns. Left-hand turns on a red light cause cars to stop and lights to cycle, but cars can sail straight through lights if they are going straight or taking a right on red without losing speed.

On the flip side, if there are more cars taking a left on a red light then lights are going to cycle more often and cause jams. You have to eyeball source and destination and gauge if there's enough right-hand turns in the intersection so that the lights make sense.

yeah pretty much this

for instance i find a traffic light a lot more efficient than a roundabout when you just have two colours intersecting each other and there's noway to seperate the networks

and i find them usefull to increase trafficflow in neighbourhoods

but still it highly depends on the junction and the traffic

[Tombs]

They used to be even worse!. I still try not to use them now out of habit as before they wrecked many a map I had running