Would this be possible, surface light rail sharing a lane with road traffic?
Well a picture paints a thousand words. Here is a photoshop of what I am suggesting/what it could look like. Excuse the shoddy photoshopping, I couldnt be bothered to take an ideal picture to photoshop. Obviously the game version would be better than this example. ;D
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg221.imageshack.us%2Fimg221%2F5691%2Ffinalcopygx4.th.jpg&hash=6c34b1151c9d7a1b0adc2697f6aa6ab88338e11b) (http://img221.imageshack.us/my.php?image=finalcopygx4.jpg)
I agree with you about this idea. Personally, i havent used the tram much in my game :thumbsup: simply because it doesnt look much realistic when it never have any good connection with the streets. After all, what is a street-tram without a street? So i have worked a little with lotting on this, just for my self. Even tough it will not be working, but eye candy only, it could be worth it (i hope). So i would love see this.
And yes, i think it will look better in the game than your photo shop, but you got the point.
From a technical point of view, it might (should) be possible. However, the in-game automata has no collision avoidance routines, so the trams will always "crash" into the cars that use the left lane. This even happens with the in-game automata frequently, so I'm not sure if it's really an issue for most people.
You'd probably see the trams or trains just running right through them slightly faster. But I believe this is just an issue of where you place the paths?
Personally, I'd like to see Cargo trams in the game :satisfied:
Could the left lane just be closed to traffic, much the same way that Portland, OR has its MAX light rail use the left lane of some city streets downtown and prevent vehicle travel in those lanes. However, Portland also has a street car (lighter rail) system that interacts with traffic where vehicles can drive in the lanes with rails.
TEG
Well if it did work and we can get it on on game, when driving on it in UDI with the traffic generator lots or with heavy traffic, it will cause some more like heavy damage to your tram when plowing through the traffic.
I've seen that in Toronto; most streetcar systems today do share traffic lanes.