Mastering Traffic in Cities Skylines: Lane Math Techniques Explained

➤LANE MATHEMATICS! Don't let all your traffic pile up in a single lane. Use Lane Math to solve traffic at highway junctions, roundabouts, and intersections!

0:00 Intro
2:07 Subtractive Lane Math
5:10 Additive Lane Math
8:18 Roundabout Lane Math
11:00 Intersection Lane Math

#citiesskylines #lanemath #cityplanning

➤Music Provided by Chillhop:

[BiffaPlaysCitiesSkylines]

I agree the additive lane maths, as shown near the start, is more realistic, but unfortunately it then means you have a 4 into 3 merge which can then cause backups itself. Of course, both can work in certain circumstances 👍😁

[bossfight]

This is why Mass Transit DLC is so practical. The dlc has traffic destroyers.

[Marconius]

I generally find having a separate right turning lane on intersections is a good idea because of how traffic lights work: usually right-turning traffic can start moving early, before straight and left-turning can, so if you have a separate right-turning lane, they can take advantage of that.
Of course if you don't have much demand for that, that lane might be better used elsewhere, or shared with another direction which could use an extra lane.

[OntarioTrafficMan]

When dealing with signals, it's useful to remember that the capacity of an approach is (very roughly) the number of lanes multiplied by the percentage green. So a 2-lane approach with the signal green half of the time, has the same capacity as 1-lane midblock segment. Some people falsely equate the number of lanes to the capacity, when in fact it's only half of the story.

I almost never need more than one lane per direction midblock in my C:S cities. Providing turn lanes at intersection provides plenty of capacity.

[carstenzimmermann]

I may have noticed
A) highway rules only work on highways. For other roads, lane connectors are needed to force merging w/o weaving
B) stretching a node w node controller can significantly improve merging. Cars change lanes at smaller angle and are less prone to blocking their lane while waiting for a gap
Let me know if you've observed the same
Thanks, glad to see new stuff from you

[inyobill]

06:03: Accellaration/Cecellaration lanes are standard on German Autobahn, also other countries I have driven, Netherlands, Belgium, Btritain.

[thasr]

I have a suggestion! Industrial areas layouts. Mainly for the industries DLC. I like adding industry complexes to my cities, but oh boy the traffic becomes a mess in record time. Where do I put factories that need things from 4 different industry areas? How do I plan for all the traffic in and out of those those zones? It is always a good challenge and I love the industries DLC, but I do get equal amounts of frustration from it.

[chromenine]

Here, subtractive lane math is usually a lot more common when a highway is narrowing due to lower traffic volume. Like when the highway starts in the big cities with 4 lanes per direction and gradually narrows to 3 lanes at a certain exit, and finally to just 2 lanes in the rural countryside.

Of course, due to induced demand, a lot of the former 3 lane/direction segments have since become widened to 4 lanes with additive lane math, and so on.

[Rosol]

Worth noting is that when 3 lanes merge with 1 right side lane into 4, good practice (irl) is to separate 2 left side lanes that go straight from the other 2 lanes by a solid line. This allows cars on 2 right side lanes to weave and not disturb straight going traffic. It can be easily done in C:S and makes our roads more realistic.

[sharebeartay]

I just started playing CS again and while I love the game, I'm not great at managing traffic. I really appreciate all your videos on mods and how to make our cities more efficient 😊

[Mordeak]

Do not watch this man's video's! Yumble leads to knowledge about city: skylines traffic, this leads to trying it on your 6 year old builds, this then leads to working cities, which leads to city building/fixing addiction, which leads to pre-ordering city: skylines 2 collector edition. This man's knowledge will cost you money !!

[shaneintheuk]

Great to hear from you again. Your videos are a pleasure to watch

[retha]

Miss ya, Yumbls. Hope all is well with you🌹and hope we see ya soon on here 😊 Can’t wait to hear your take on Cities 2!

[AthrunXs]

Man subtractive lane maths really pissed me off back then during the early ETS2 days, as a truck you'd need to constantly leave the outer lane because it just exits at every interchange. Also I've found I rarely use asymmetric roads in favor of just increasing lanes in both directions like 4 lane to 6 lane.

[AISPs]

1:24 I would say 3+1 -> 3 is okay, though I have seen much worse situations where some players merged two 3 lane highways into a single 3 lane. That one definitely need to be fixed
12:08 thanks CS:L for making more official asymmetric roads. a 4+2 would be definitely great for both left and right turn pockets. I hope to see that in the future DLC
8:21 I think the roundabout lane math / connections is the hardest, as the segments on the ring need to fit variety of needs. Maybe you can make a video about roundabouts next. Plus, here the traffic from small roads are not analyzed.

[RustyWalker]

I'm interested in how to pass public transit efficiently through intersections, especially with the new transit roads and expressways that have been added. Also, how best to implement expressways into highway infrastructure without disrupting traffic flow.

One more thing - medians. Where to and where not to use median roads.

[sonben]

In Austria additive lane math is used but in some parts where there is not much space, subtractive lane math happens aswell

[_qwrtyXxYz_]

Yo! Love your vids. Most of my builds are quite dense and I avoid urban highways at all cost because I prioritize walkability and bike lanes over anything else. So I was wondering if you could make a video on very space efficient ways to manage traffic, for example mastering small urban roundabouts and arterial junctions. Thanks!

[ashwolfthesupernovagamer]

I'm glad that there are answers to traffic problems. I'm loving the bus lanes, I'm sure these roads will be really helpful

[Spyke]

„All you need is one more lane…ONE MORE LANE“😅
And that‘s the moment when induced demand hits you 😂
PS:Love your vids, I‘m addicted to learning interchanges even i‘m not playing Cities Skylines 🤩