The city builder genre seems to be few and far between, best I can tell. Cities Skylines comes to mind as one of the more recent examples, but given that its cars have a habit of appearing from and vanishing into thin air, I'd guess its traffic simulation is rudimentary at best.
You night have better luck with titles like transport tycoon or their FOSS counterparts, but those tend to lean into the economic aspect, so I'd expect their traffic simulation to take a backseat, as well.
this post was submitted on 07 Aug 2026
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One of the DLCs in Cities Skylines added cycling, bike lanes, etc. though it may be folded into the main game now? There's also a mod that improves traffic management around intersections, though it has had a history of breaking every time they patch the game, so I'm not sure of its present state.
Has anyone played CS2? I need to upgrade my game machine before I can play that, but I've heard they've improved the traffic sim.
I'm not sure if anything has really surpassed SimCity 4 yet, especially with mods like:
https://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/26793-network-addon-mod-nam-cross-platform/
That still won't get you the simulation fidelity you're looking for though. City simulators have been dead in the water for a long time.
Don't know about Cities Skylines 2 but the first one is pretty good with its simulation. Adding ways for pedestrians and public transport have a measurable impact on traffic.
That traffic simulation also makes it pretty hard. Most big cities die due to traffic if you don't manage it well.
Mods and DLCs also greatly increase the possibilities and tools available to you.
Maybe Workers and Resources if you set traffic to complex? It's supposed to be a very micromanagey game.
!citybuilders@sh.itjust.works might be able to help you too.
This thread is a little older but I wanted to second Workers & Resources. It's like a mash up of a transport tycoon and a city builder. Fantastic game, I've put over 700 hours into it and I still feel like a noob.
I bought it partially because I thought it would execute on this, and I am glad to be proven right! (Haven't had time to open up and play yet.)
Really would love a good city sim with bikes!
Cities: Skylines with mods