cars not passing each other?

[hymie]

Greetings.  I've been away from Simutrans for a while, but I just downloaded v 120r7175 and I've noticed a new behavior.

I have a passenger/mail bus line.  My passenger bus has a top speed of 50 km/h and my mail truck has a top speed of 60 km/h.  They run on Cobblestone roads with a max speed of 70 km/h.

In the past, if the mail truck was stuck behind the bus, and there was a very long straight road, the truck would pass the bus.  Instead, what is happening now is that the mail truck stays behind the bus, "bumps" the back of the bus, stops, leaves a little room, accelerates back up to 60, and bumps the bus again.

I know that I can build highways with a minimum speed of 80 km/h , but my game isn't there yet.

Why did the faster trucks stop passing the slower buses, and is there an option to turn this back on?  Do I have any other recourse besides micromanaging the bus out of the way of the mail truck?

[Ters]

There have been no change in overtaking that I'm aware of in a long time. On the other hand, my maps don't have many places overtaking will and can take place. Are you sure there is nothing on the straight road that hinders overtaking, such as oncoming traffic or junctions?

[hymie]

Am I sure?  No, I"m not sure.  I don't see any reason.

More screenshots here:

http://lactose.homelinux.net/~hymie/simu/

[Ters]

When did it last work as you expected?

[Sarlock]

Is the length of road for passing long enough to accommodate a 10km/h incremental passing speed?

I have thought in the past that increasing the speed of passing vehicles (perhaps by 25%) would facilitate more frequent passing opportunities.  A small difference in convoy speeds often means that passing is not possible.

[prissi]

It may depend on the load of the mail truck and the bus, which can change ther maximum speed. Furthermore the depot access counts as a crossing, i.e. no overtaking if there is a crossing coming up.

[BBGunn]

Is the length of road for passing long enough to accommodate a 10km/h incremental passing speed?

I have thought in the past that increasing the speed of passing vehicles (perhaps by 25%) would facilitate more frequent passing opportunities.  A small difference in convoy speeds often means that passing is not possible.

This makes sense in my current game.  My mail trucks will pass certain city cars but not others, even though they are faster than all of them.  The trucks are more likely to pass the "very slow" vehicles than pass the "somewhat slow" vehicles, and perhaps it is because of that smaller difference in convoy speeds.

Ah, if only I knew how to create a video... I could easily show that sort of behavior in my current save.

[Ters]

I have done some tests with the bus, mail truck and road surface in question, and the overtaking takes ten tiles when both are empty. There is possibly a few more tiles required as a safety margin. When both vehicles are loaded, the length required for overtaking might be even longer.

[hymie]

Thanks to everybody.  I guess that's my problem, that the road in fact isn't long enough / unobstructed enough to allow passing.

Sooner or later, I'll either get a vehicle that can go 80, and build a couple of 80+ roads, or I'll have enough money to start replacing the bus service with trains.