Huge traffic jams to train cargo stations

[KGriffith]

My train cargo stations are completely jaming my roads, I build one way roads, large roads, 2 stations next to each other. And one of them isnt even used. I have a huge city, no road problems whatsoever. Only this part ... http://imgur.com/a/icLCE

[MarkJohnson]

There are many issues.

First, you make two mistakes with cargo stations. You have placed two cargo trains next to each other so everyone is heading in the same direction. Split them up and move one to the other side.

The second mistake is the cargo station is outside of industry. Move them both to the center of industry, not outside of it. It will give you a better bonus to your industry. Cargo trains add one full level to industry.

third. You should have highway access next to industry so freight can enter/exit your city quickly. Make sure to have several on/off ramps and industry on both sides of the highway.

Fourth, You need to balance out your industry. You have way too much industry and that is the problem, not the roads. This game is all about balancing the zones to keep traffic low. Heavy traffic means unbalance.

Fifth, building too fast. Young immature areas will create more demands from buildings as they level up by creating more jobs and/or citizens. Play at x3 speeds allows your city to mature faster and prevent traffic jams.

Sixth, one-way roads are a bad idea. They force traffic around areas instead of sending them straight to their destination.

Lastly, and unrelated to your specific issue, Large fire stations give at least a half level of bonuses to industry.

Remember, this is an agent (cims) based simulator. This means your cims (citizens and vehicles) need to get from point A to point B in a TIMELY manner. So make everything a short of trip as possible.

Train stations outside of the area is going to create long trips and excess traffic.

Clumping them up makes choke points and slows them down and lengthening their time on the road.

[Mopic5]

Nice, comprehensive answer, Di rmJ144. A lot for us many of us new to C:S to learn from.

[KGriffith]

Thank you so much for taking the time and efford to explain it like this. I started from scratch in this area. Demolished everything and now it works better already. I will keep this in mind when making other industial areas.

Thanks again.

[ancienthighway]

Originally posted by -DI- rmjohnson144:

Sixth, one-way roads are a bad idea. They force traffic around areas instead of sending them straight to their destination.

Placing the cargo station on a one way road has always worked well for me. I do place a return road next to it so trucks can reenter the station if needed. With little rework, it could become a lopsided circle allowing trucks assess to and from completely different areas: heavy industry, agriculture, forestry, power, and even commercial.

Originally posted by -DI- rmjohnson144:

The second mistake is the cargo station is outside of industry. Move them both to the center of industry, not outside of it. It will give you a better bonus to your industry. Cargo trains add one full level to industry.

I'll have to try this. I've always placed the train station receiving cargo from the outside well away from my city, then used a nearby second station with no outside connections to move cargo and passengers into the city

[MarkJohnson]

Originally posted by ancienthighway:

Placing the cargo station on a one way road has always worked well for me. I do place a return road next to it so trucks can reenter the station if needed. With little rework, it could become a lopsided circle allowing trucks assess to and from completely different areas: heavy industry, agriculture, forestry, power, and even commercial.

This is the exception to the rule. but even sill, if you have this much traffic you should be balancing your imports and exports a little better so there is fewer trucks in the area.

Originally posted by ancienthighway:

I'll have to try this. I've always placed the train station receiving cargo from the outside well away from my city, then used a nearby second station with no outside connections to move cargo and passengers into the city

This is another exception to the rule. If you segregate the two stations, then it is a good idea to be fairly close, so they can switch stations quickly. You'll just have to gauge it best you can.

Just remember that as your city grows, the demands will change and your smooth running production chain with go bonkers when you move to a new section to grow. It can get very frustrating at times. But be patient and wait for the new section to mature before going back and rebalance the previous area again.

I find you have to balance one first, then the other. If you try to do both at once, it gets worse rather than better. Or at least it seems to take longer to balance the two.

[grapplehoeker]

You could also consider using a traffic sponge. These are great for soaking up huge volumes of freight traffic and keep your roads clear. There are ready made sponges in the Workshop or you could build your own.
Here's an example ;)
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=936755732

[barrygreybeard]

One thing I found that helps is to have two cargo stations, one for import only and one for export only using one way tracks, that effectively divides up your traffic.

If that still causes jams then limit each cargo station to maybe one or two outside connections. It cuts down on train traffic as well as truck traffic.

The city I am playing at the moment, exports 18k+ goods and imports 7k with no traffic problems, neither truck nor train, using 13 cargo train stations.

[LionWarrior505]

Because of cargo jam I stopped use industry and changed to offices. Now I have 826K city and growing.
I spend weeks to try solve traffic to cargo train and cargo ships, used Traffic President mod, it helps, but cause huge lag so no traffic mods anymore.
Now I have 85% traffic flow, no jam, nothing.
Here is my city, where industry only 1 small district for fun: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1134327830

[MarkJohnson]

Originally posted by Agent Smith:

Because of cargo jam I stopped use industry and changed to offices. Now I have 826K city and growing.
I spend weeks to try solve traffic to cargo train and cargo ships, used Traffic President mod, it helps, but cause huge lag so no traffic mods anymore.
Now I have 85% traffic flow, no jam, nothing.
Here is my city, where industry only 1 small district for fun: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1134327830

Yes, this is easy to achieve with no demand mods. You don't need offices or industry or even commerce. Just zone residential. They will be happy staying home and doing nothing all day while you shoot straight to 1-million pop. I did it in the default 9-tiles of my city I converted to all residential, just to see if it could be done.

[torax+*****]

Originally posted by MarkJohnson:

You have placed two cargo trains next to each other so everyone is heading in the same direction.

Thanks, that was the problem I had. Removed one of the stations, replaced it with even more farms and better connectivity. Now the traffics is much better. Still heavy, but manageable.