Pedistrian traffic control...its not what you think.

[6000 Chipmunks]

I've played this game off and on for many "moons", and I've always been perplexed by the failure of the developers to concider doing anything about the constant traffic snarls and downward death-spirals of your entire empire, simply due to pedistrians blocking traffic ad-nausium.

However, I noticed for the first time,(aparently, I hadn't been paying as much attention to rail-road crossings as I should have.), that pedestrians STOP when a train is passing.

I'm wondering how hard it would be to put that "logic" into something akin to a cross-walk light?

Still, scratching my head as to why that was left on the cutting-room floor.

[cszolee79]

It's annoying when it gets out of hand but it also means you are not doing your job transporting those minions.
With enough trams (lately I'm only using trams in cities) you can have no/minimal jaywalkers and no cars in 5k+ cities.
In the end, a bad traffic jam means your transportation system is lacking.

Nevertheless I'd also like some sort of traffic control in the next game.

Until then, we have some solutions:
https://www.transportfever.net/filebase/index.php/Entry/3617/
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1628551520
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1226070524

[6000 Chipmunks]

Thanks Cszolee79! I have botyh of those, as well as the "no-cars" mod. (Esentially streets that do not allow AI cars.) While I have found several ways around the problem, proper transit being one of them, it still makes my head hurt when I can see, that there is obviously code available to help, or at the very least, something to add a little enjoyment to city commuting.

I rarely have true traffic snarls due to the amount of cars(I rarely have the patience to get past 1930). I do find that riding along in a taxi or Bus, really shows the problem. I've seen them stop many times between stations that are fairly close, due to multiple crossings and pedestrian traffic.

The game actually states that the town/city folk, have varying travel cost preferences, and not all of them are going to use your transit, so you will always have pedestrian traffic. It's no big deal to me...but, like I said, I found it odd, that the coding to stop pedestrians from walking in front of trains, was not incorportated into some kind of crosswalk mechanic or, dare I say it...traffic lights.

[CashonWheels]

Some traffic i$$ue$ can be mitigated by just deleting, adding or moving streets around. Even blocking the AI from building certain roads with pieces of railroad track will help. I once had two 6 lane roads converge at a four way interchange. This caused city wide gridlock! I fixed this issue by doing a combo of the advise above.

[Fortune Calls]

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=904308734

This is a compact bus station embedded with two bus stops and a pedestrian underpass.

There is also the K01 intersection, which is a 3 way road intersection with pedestrian underpass.

[6000 Chipmunks]

Thanks Gburrex and, TCP.

Pedestrian traffic, as I've stated, isn't a major game-breaker for me. I was just surprised to see that rail-crossings indeed had the coding to prevent people from walking in front of trains. I just wonder why that code was never implemented into, say...not walking in front of busses, taxis or trams?

The Tram-/Bushaltestelle mit Bucht mod does look appealing...I may have to get that.

[RabbitRidge]

Pedestrian traffic isn't a problem for me, but I don't use mods either. If you build a train station for example in the heart of a city, then expect it. The cheap people and many fast will always walk to it within the catchment area.

Edit: that is why I prefer establishing Passenger trains in strong Industry areas in the early game. I have delivery options (goods) and travel jobs are fulfilled thus preventing most unintended pedestrian traffic. Commerce is usually impractical because it is typically center City. All in all, force your sims to use the intercity transport network as much as possible.

[6000 Chipmunks]

Originally posted by RabbitRidge:

Pedestrian traffic isn't a problem for me, but I don't use mods either. If you build a train station for example in the heart of a city, then expect it. The cheap people and many fast will always walk to it within the catchment area.

Edit: that is why I prefer establishing Passenger trains in strong Industry areas in the early game. I have delivery options (goods) and travel jobs are fulfilled thus preventing most unintended pedestrian traffic. Commerce is usually impractical because it is typically center City. All in all, force your sims to use the intercity transport network as much as possible.

Thanks RabbitRidge.
Those sound like pretty good strategys.
I always assumed that getting both passenger and freight stations as close to city central without having to level half the town/city to do so, was a good idea. I may want to try your approach.

I'm guessing you have some kind of public transport from the residential/commercial areas to the jobs/industrial areas?

[RabbitRidge]

Of course, it's all about intercity networks in a circular path providing access to all 3 zones. Don't be afraid to provide plenty of bus stops just before major intersections either (no maintenance costs). ;)

Many make the mistake of thinking Residential is the most important catchment area (could be in extreme circumstances).

Edit: don't forget to have a bus/tram stop directly at your train station(s)! The real distinction between trams and busses: trams generally have much better tractive effort which is really what counts in cities (stops and starts). ;)

[6000 Chipmunks]

Originally posted by RabbitRidge:

Of course, it's all about intercity networks in a circular path providing access to all 3 zones. Don't be afraid to provide plenty of bus stops just before major intersections either (no maintenance costs). ;)

Many make the mistake of thinking Residential is the most important catchment area (could be in extreme circumstances).

Edit: don't forget to have a bus/tram stop directly at your train station(s)! The real distinction between trams and busses: trams generally have much better tractive effort which is really what counts in cities (stops and starts). ;)

That is interesting. I've always placed my bus/tram stops as close to intersections as possible, due to their tendency to continue all the way to the end of the block to turn around anyway. In fact I avoid putting any stops mid-block for the reason stated. I also try to stagger them so that they are not all converging at the same intersection, as they tend to interfere with each other.

I had no idea there were maintenance differences/quirks involved.

I like the circular aproach, but find that I end up with towns that look roughly the same circular shape. However, I rarely get to see cities, as either I get tired of waiting for the next generation of vehicles, or the game crashes due to some mod or other. (A good reason to avoid as many as possible.) *You may have mentioned that before. :)

However; I'm still running into the issue of industries shutting down for no apparent reason, and refusing to start up again. I've just spent most of the night trying to get my oil well to co-operate...then the game crashed. So, I'm probably going to stick with the Import/export mod for now, as it seems to be the only way to get stable through-put on anything.

The info on trams was great too! I've always had trouble making a profit with them, although I do love the way they look. Even if they don't make any money, the do provide my real "money-makers" with customers, so it not a huge deal.

[Vimpster]

Originally posted by RabbitRidge:

Many make the mistake of thinking Residential is the most important catchment area (could be in extreme circumstances).

I would not say that residential is any more important to have coverage of than any other zone type. They all equally require coverage. However, what distinguishes residential is that traffic comes and goes from residential twice as much as from the other two zone types. Thus it is more advantageous to ensure quicker access to the residential, as in placing train stations in residential areas over commercial or industrial. But all 3 need to be connected up to the network with equal importance.

[RabbitRidge]

Technically it's all equal in the end, train Residential works for small cities going to big cities in the beginning until they grow around equal size. But all want jobs and shopping too and Residential doesn't provide the direct cargo fulfillment option.

Edit: and back to the original subject, discourages people walking.

[Railsplitter]

Another way to reduce street traffic is to widen some of your streets and add bus lanes. Trucks and buses will use them when they're available and let the cars go around them. You may lose a lot of buildings when you do this (depending on how wide you want to go) but they will grow back in a short time.

[cszolee79]

Originally posted by Railsplitter:

You may lose a lot of buildings when you do this (depending on how wide you want to go) but they will grow back in a short time.

This can help a lot (upgrading normal medium streets to slim four-lanes or normal four-lanes to slim 6-lanes). This is the only street mod I use and so far no problems or clashes with other mods.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1186433290

[Railsplitter]

Thanks, cszolee79. I'm going to try that one. Hadn't seen it before.

[cszolee79]

Originally posted by Tactical Combat Peanut:

There is also the K01 intersection, which is a 3 way road intersection with pedestrian underpass.

This is the upgraded version of K01 (not on Steam) as I mentioned above.
https://www.transportfever.net/filebase/index.php/Entry/3617/
General problem with such mods (crossing / special tram or bus stations, etc) that they don't allow buildings next to them. They are not real streets in that regard.