What triggers traffic?

[tnobles 38]

Just curious if anyone has noticed/figured what triggers traffic, road density or building(resident) density.

 

I built one city just to see how much population I could get with low density and used dirt roads (totally) until I had the city tile full. I wasn't thinking about this at the time but, I did notice that traffic was almost none except for service vehicles. It would be nice to know if road density affects walkers (which EA calls agents).

[perafilozof 143]

I am not sure why do you consider bad traffic as something that has to be triggered.

Bad traffic is a product of too many cars on too little road surface.

 

You don't have traffic problems at low density because:

A) most sims from a household will find work or shopping at walking distance (if your mixing R and C) 

B) there is more than enough of road surface physically to fit the cars on

C) there are no buildings that require hundreds of workers while at the same time taking in hundreds of shoppers 

[tnobles 38]

I don't consider traffic as something that has to be triggered, my experience with the game thus far, this seems to be the case.

[Snugies 91]

Yep I think it gets triggered as well certainly the regional traffic off the freeway gets triggered by something. This "something" I don't know what it is either. I think I read someone say it happens once you get your first high density commercial. I personally think it happens at a certain population point in the region. Many people have noticed this they are wondering what the trigger is when every city gets large amounts of traffic coming in from the freeway jamming up the entire city for mysterious reasons. I hope we find the answer but I think it is that maxis cant run agent simulation at high population levels therefor the start to estimate traffic which I think they overestimated. My conspiracy theory on this is that I think maxis has some anti-suburban feelings. Having been to Redwood City east of San Francisco I know it has heavy traffic and pollution.  

[Screwballl 196]

Density I found is a major trigger. There is a small rush the moment medium density appear... and then the worst of it all comes when the first high density appears. Other than that the game is VERY problematic when it comes to traffic.

 

I have a new region (7 cities, 1 GW). First city is around 20K, no problems at all. Then I just started second city, I am using nothing but med density avenues, and traffic has everything backed up so bad the crime, sick and fires are taking over where I am spending most of my time bulldozing, then the construction vehicles and moving trucks add in to the problem, and my oil trucks take forever to get out of town to deliver to the global market slowing the money income....

 

If you follow a lot of these cars, they leave work, claim they're going home yet they drive all over town rather than the most direct route.

 

In this screenshot, the highway goes through it, the 1st city at upper right, and other one to open region at bottom center.... yet all the traffic is coming from empty region.... why?

 

 

 

Yet many times I found traffic is unwarranted, unless the game has certain maps marked for high traffic for the purpose of being tourist/gambling cities??? The description did state this one would be good for a tourist/gambling city... maybe i will make it so...

[Snugies 91]

thanks for the warning i'm working on that city as well right now. I think your right about the high density triggering the traffic. So I am now doing what the maxis guy said and am dezoning the low density buildings along my big avenues.

[perafilozof 143]

I am not sure why that is news in anyway?

You're creating a high density building that has 700 agents($ R) on the same amount of space where you had 64 agents at low density ($ R). That is over a 1000% increase while your street goes from 2 lanes to 4 lanes which is a 100% increase. 

 

1000>>>100

[Snugies 91]

true but sometimes when I look at the freeway backup I haven't counted but I really think it is more people than my city could possibly produce. I was wondering if maxis programmed such that nobody ever stays at home. I was also thinking it could be people from outside the region suburbs and exburbs I guess.

[MinecraftFTW 4]

Just curious if anyone has noticed/figured what triggers traffic, road density or building(resident) density.

 

I built one city just to see how much population I could get with low density and used dirt roads (totally) until I had the city tile full. I wasn't thinking about this at the time but, I did notice that traffic was almost none except for service vehicles. It would be nice to know if road density affects walkers (which EA calls agents).

Traffic is an agent carrying agents (car or bus.) When there is massive traffic, it is congested, and if worse, gridlock.

[Districtopia 23]

Density I found is a major trigger. There is a small rush the moment medium density appear... and then the worst of it all comes when the first high density appears. Other than that the game is VERY problematic when it comes to traffic.

 

I have a new region (7 cities, 1 GW). First city is around 20K, no problems at all. Then I just started second city, I am using nothing but med density avenues, and traffic has everything backed up so bad the crime, sick and fires are taking over where I am spending most of my time bulldozing, then the construction vehicles and moving trucks add in to the problem, and my oil trucks take forever to get out of town to deliver to the global market slowing the money income....

 

If you follow a lot of these cars, they leave work, claim they're going home yet they drive all over town rather than the most direct route.

 

In this screenshot, the highway goes through it, the 1st city at upper right, and other one to open region at bottom center.... yet all the traffic is coming from empty region.... why?

 

 

 

Yet many times I found traffic is unwarranted, unless the game has certain maps marked for high traffic for the purpose of being tourist/gambling cities??? The description did state this one would be good for a tourist/gambling city... maybe i will make it so...

 

 

I have found that zoning on avenues like it appears you've done above, triggers bad traffic problems, especially after you get over 40k people. It's a shame because zoning on avenues is the most aesthetically pleasing, IMO. Especially when you start running streetcars. It seems like Maxis meant for the avenues to function more as interstates than inner-city avenues.

[majorblack 0]

 

Density I found is a major trigger. There is a small rush the moment medium density appear... and then the worst of it all comes when the first high density appears. Other than that the game is VERY problematic when it comes to traffic.

 

I have a new region (7 cities, 1 GW). First city is around 20K, no problems at all. Then I just started second city, I am using nothing but med density avenues, and traffic has everything backed up so bad the crime, sick and fires are taking over where I am spending most of my time bulldozing, then the construction vehicles and moving trucks add in to the problem, and my oil trucks take forever to get out of town to deliver to the global market slowing the money income....

 

If you follow a lot of these cars, they leave work, claim they're going home yet they drive all over town rather than the most direct route.

 

In this screenshot, the highway goes through it, the 1st city at upper right, and other one to open region at bottom center.... yet all the traffic is coming from empty region.... why?

 

 

 

Yet many times I found traffic is unwarranted, unless the game has certain maps marked for high traffic for the purpose of being tourist/gambling cities??? The description did state this one would be good for a tourist/gambling city... maybe i will make it so...

 

 

I have found that zoning on avenues like it appears you've done above, triggers bad traffic problems, especially after you get over 40k people. It's a shame because zoning on avenues is the most aesthetically pleasing, IMO. Especially when you start running streetcars. It seems like Maxis meant for the avenues to function more as interstates than inner-city avenues.

 

 

I've had numerous problems with traffic and I've also found zoning avenues to be the trigger but I have a thought which could and probably is wrong but as I looked at it cars would just stop causing jams. Is this a parking problem with high density buildings along avenues especially commercial. I found train stations/street cars had little effect it was only when I placed lots of park and rides the traffic eased.

[Bibor_Kiraly 21]

The most determining trigger for traffic (in my opinion) is if you have more than one high density building between two intersections. Also if you have high density buildings *on* intersections.

 

It's worse for commercial and industrial than for residential.

[Screwballl 196]

The most determining trigger for traffic (in my opinion) is if you have more than one high density building between two intersections. Also if you have high density buildings *on* intersections.

 

It's worse for commercial and industrial than for residential.

 

 

I've found that most of the traffic is commercial related. I have had cities with high density R and I, and only med density C and traffic stayed manageable. Once HD C comes into play, for some reason these sims will leave work, drive all over town including in circles and funky routes just to get to some specific Commercial building. Add in high density C and you end up with thousands of these cars flooding the streets full time since so many are trying to get to the high density buildings, which really doesn't make any sense. Low and medium density C is the shops and businesses people (not sims apparently) would be more likely to leave work, go to the food place and then home, versus HD C seems to be mostly offices, not shops.

Why would a sim get off work from the smelting factory, drive all over town trying to get to Leavum Hangin Law Offices to "spend their money"when just down the road is a proper MD C Burger Town which is much more likely for the normal low or medium wealth person to spend their money at after work.

[Fornix 4]

From what I've noticed it's primarily time which triggers traffic.

For example at 11:00 PM, but also at I believe 7:00 AM is the correct time for morning, all sims want to head off for work simultaneously. Which instantly generates queues. And essentially from that moment on directly part of the issue starts. If in addition to that their destination is also far away (multiple residential blocks in between), the issue stacks. Sims lack any sort of intelligence to travel before or after traffic is congested.

Another major issue is that industrial buildings can hold up a great amount of workers once high density. These workers do not carpool, and often also do not take the bus as there's already many others using the bus. So to a small number of buildings, you have well over a thousand cars trying to access. And unlike common in real life where roads leading to such major factories are well outside of the city, the small city limits force you to have those congestions already present within your city center.