SimCity: So you have no traffic problems
Traffic can quickly cause big problems in SimCity. To prevent this from happening, you need to place all of the buildings and streets in your city as skilfully as possible right from the start. If the traffic in your city runs smoothly, not only will fires be extinguished faster and Sims supplied faster, you will also save a lot of money because, for example, you will have to use fewer garbage trucks. In this practical tip, we will give you the best tips so that your city does not perish in the traffic jam.
1. Expand public transport in SimCity
The most obvious method is to create a decent infrastructure so that the Sims leave their car in the garage and take the bus and train instead.
- For many modes of transport, you first have to build the traffic department in the town hall. Only then can you build stations, for example.
- If you have set up a bus depot, you should also build park-and-ride parking spaces in the residential area so that the Sims can park their cars directly at the bus stop.
- If you have already built bus stops for a school, you should build the bus depot on the other side of the street if possible so that normal buses and school buses do not interfere with each other.
- If you want to use the tram, you have to build many main streets from the beginning, because you cannot upgrade normal streets in main streets later.
2. Save on traffic lights in SimCity
There are two effective ways to save a couple of crossings. Cars shouldn't have to stand at traffic lights for too long, especially on main roads.
- The first option is to build a few bridges and tunnels. To do this, press the [M] or [N] button while dragging a road to lower or raise the road.
- Under no circumstances should they replace all intersections with tunnels and bridges, but also enable alternative routes for the cars.
- Instead of a simple corner, you should build curves. This saves you a traffic light that stops traffic unnecessarily.
- Build T-crossings instead of normal crossings. This reduces the duration of the red phase at the traffic lights.
3. Short distances for your Sims
If the Sims find everything you need right in your immediate area, you’re either only a short drive away or you can even walk.
- Mix residential and commercial areas so that your Sims don't need a car to shop in the city, but are on the go on foot. Since Sims always work at the next vacancy, they also save a large part of the rush hour.
- Schools, hospitals and fire stations should be set up as centrally as possible so that the pupils or the emergency services only have to walk short distances.
4. Alignment of the buildings in SimCity
When building the building, you can directly influence which roads are the most polluted. They should then expand these roads in the best possible way
- Even if buildings are surrounded by a street, you only have one connection point to the street. They automatically select this when the building is built.
- For example, all employees or suppliers of a power plant will only drive to the power plant via this anchor point. So this access road is more stressed than the other roads around the power plant.
- Exceptions are, for example, the landfill or the fire station. Here you can also add garages afterwards and place them on other streets.
You can find more general tips on SimCity in this practical tip