• Journal of Korean Port Research
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.113-122
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• 1999

Congestion and traffic accidents occur on the merge and diverge sections in the interchange of the freeway. Studies have been conducted to reduce the traffic delay and accidents on the merge section in the freeway since 1960s. but a study was not conducted to estimate the speed variation on the merge section construct models estimated for the speed variation and suggest the appropriate measures. The purpose of this study was to identify the traffic flow characteristics on the merge section in the freeway construct the models estimated for the speed variation on the merge section in the freeway and finally establish the appropriate measure for reduction of traffic delay and accidents on the merge section in the freeway. The following results were obtained: I) Speed variations in the urban freeway appeared to be about 3.2mph, 6.5mph and 7.4mph based on the morning peak period, afternoon peak period and 24-hours period but those in the suburban freeway appeared to be about 8.0mph, 11.1mph and 10.1mph based on the same periods respectively. So different speed reduction signs need be installed to reduce delay and accidents on the merge section in the freeway based on the areas and periods as the freeway traffic management system(FTMS). ii) These models estimated for speed variation need to be studied with the changeable message sign(CMS) technique based on the real-time data so that the traffic flow could be maximized and the traffic delay and accidents be on the merge section in the freeway as more efficient freeway traffic management system(FTMS) in the near future.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.77-82
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• 2016

PURPOSES : This paper proposes a reliability index for the safety evaluation of freeway sections. It establishes a reliability index as a safety surrogate on freeways considering speeds and speed dispersions. METHODS : We collated values of design elements including radii, curve lengths, vertical slopes (absolute values), superelevations, and vertical slopes from seven freeway sections in Korea. We also collected data about driving speeds, traffic accidents, and their deviations. We established a reliability index using these variables. RESULTS : The average radii, curve lengths, and superelevations are highly correlated with the incidence of traffic accidents. Deviations in radius and curve lengths show an especially high correlation. The reliability index, derived from speed and speed dispersions of the seven freeway sections, also correlated highly with accidents with a correlation index of 0.63. CONCLUSIONS : Since the reliability index obtained from speed and speed dispersions are highly correlated with traffic accidents, we conclude that a reliability index can be a safety surrogate on freeways considering speeds and speed dispersions together in terms of design and operational levels.

• Journal of Korean Port Research
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.333-350
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• 1999

Today freeway is thought to be a very important transportation facility carrying tremendous traffic flow as the main corridor within the area of between the areas. However freeway is experiencing severe congestion and accidents by increased entrance ramp flow especially at peak time period. Ramp meters on the freeway entrance ramps that supply traffic to the freeway in a measured or appropriately regulated amount are needed for alleviating freeway congestion. Because ramp meters can be operated to discharge traffic at a measured or regulated rate thus maintaining more uniform speed on the mainline section maximizing the throughput to the freeway within the capacity of a downstream bottleneck and reducing the congestion related accidents. Thus the objectives in this study were to analyze the traffic characteristics on the freeway I-94 with ramp metering system before/after ITS technology in Detroit (Michigan) area compare shifts of the traffic characteristics on the freeway I-94 before/after ITS technology and finally suggest a better ramp metering strategy for the freeway system The following results were obtained: i)Flow occupancies and speeds on the mainline merge section of freeway were shown to be a big difference depending on the peak periods areas and directions based on the distribution of traffic flow characteristics on the freeway. ii)Reduced speed was shown to be more than 5 mph and ramp flow was also shown to be more than 240 vph at peak periods if there was the ramp metering system constructed on the freeway. iii)Ramp metering system was shown to be optimally operated on the freeway if ramp flow could be maximized within the range of over 900 vph and reduced occupancy could be also maximized by no more than 2 percent at peak periods. iv)The average flows on the freeway after the ITS technology were shown to be a decrease of over 20% depending on the peak periods areas and directions when compared with those flow on the freeway before the ITS technology. over 20% depending on the peak periods areas and directions when compared with those speeds on the freeway before the ITS technology. vi)The average metering rates on the freeway after the ITS technology were shown to be an increase of over 10% depending on the peak periods areas and directions when compared with those metering rates on the freeway before the ITS technology.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.119-129
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• 2016

PURPOSES : The purpose of this study is to develop a methodology for estimating additional carbon emissions due to freeway incidents. METHODS : As our country grows, our highway policy has mainly neglected the environmental and social sectors. However, with the formation of a national green growth keynote and an increase in the number of people interested in environmental and social issues, problems related to social issues, such as traffic accidents and congestion, and environmental issues, such as the impact of air pollution caused by exhaust gases that are emitted from highway vehicles, are beginning to be discussed. Accordingly, studies have been conducted on a variety of environmental aspects in the field of road transport, and for the quantitative calculation of greenhouse gas emissions, using various methods. However, in order to observe the effects of carbon emissions, microscopic simulations must use many difficult variables such as cost, analysis time, and ease of analysis process. In this study, additional greenhouse gas emissions that occur because of highway traffic accidents were classified by type (incident handling time, number of lanes blocked, freeway level of service), and the annual additional emissions based on incidents were calculated. According to the results, congestion length and emissions tend to increase with an increase in incident clearance time, number of occupied lanes, and worsening level of service. Using this data, we analyzed accident data on the Gyeong-bu Expressway (Yang-Jae IC - Osan IC) for a year. RESULTS : Additional greenhouse gas emissions that occur because of highway traffic accidents were classified by type (incident handling time, number of lanes blocked, freeway level of service) and annual additional emissions caused by accidents were calculated. CONCLUSIONS : In this study, a methodology for estimating carbon emissions due to freeway incidents was developed that incorporates macroscopic flow models. The results of the study are organized in the form of a look-Up table that calculates carbon emissions rather easily.

• Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
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• v.20 no.7
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• pp.107-116
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• 2002

Crash Cushion is a kind of safety facilities on roadside which acts the role of absorbing impact energy when vehicles are driven out of normal route such as Gore area of freeway off ramp. Criteria for severity index considering accident occurrence possibility are needed to have strong effect on installing the facilities. However, present criteria for establishing crash cushion design do not include such processes. Therefore, the paper presents two kinds of study to develop criteria for severity index. First of all, development of accident forecasting model on freeway off ramp is presented. The module is a relationship between accidents and road environment by negative binomial distribution (NB) which is called to reflect very well quality of accidents at Gore of crash cushion installed freeway Secondly, freeway exiting behavior model is developed because the human factor is the most important one. However, many literatures have shown between road environment and accidents which are more quantitative than human factor. The study supposed advanced process steps on actual freeway and analysed correlation between variables and accidents. The criteria for severity index is presented to determine whether to install or not by benefit cost analysis for each module. The standard for severity index will help to determine whether to install the crash cushion or not and to estimate severity for freeway and off ramp.

• The Journal of The Korea Institute of Intelligent Transport Systems
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.1-14
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• 2020

The aim of this study is to analyze effects of factors on the number of vehicles involved in traffic accidents on freeway sections. In previous studies about traffic accident severity, the analysis of accidents involving multiple vehicles was insufficient. However, multiple-vehicle accidents are likely to cause casualties and are the main reasons increasing accident duration and social costs. In this study, the number of vehicles involved in an accident was interpreted as the result of the accident, not as the cause of the accident, and the impacts of each accident factor were analyzed using a multinomial logit model. The results indicate that multiple-vehicle accidents are mainly related to following factors: nighttime, driver's faults, obstacles on the road, a downhill slope, heavy vehicles, and freeway mainline sections including tunnels and bridges.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.9 no.2 s.32
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• pp.77-87
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• 2007

Traffic accidents on freeway are occurred by various factors, and driver inattention is one of the most important factors causing traffic accidents. To warn drivers about unexpected dangerous events and diminish driver inattention problems, traffic safety facilities including warning and regulatory traffic signs; delineators; rumble strips are installed. In this study, the traffic safety effect of shoulder rumble sips were investigated using "Comparison Croup (C-G)" method developed by Hauer. Through the analyses, it was found that numbers of run-off-the road crashes were reduced as 2.43 crashes per year after the installation of shoulder rumble strips on the freeway. Based on the analysis results in this study, it was concluded that shoulder rumble strips on the freeway contribute to reduce traffic accidents, especially run-off-the road crashes.

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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• v.22 no.49
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• pp.125-133
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• 1999

Nonrecurring congestions are generally caused by random or less predictable events, such as accidents, spilled loads stalled or broken-down vehicles that, temporarily reduce the capacity of the freeway. The purpose of this paper is to present the effect of incidents on the traffic congestion on the urban freeway by simulation method. The simulation scenario is composed of two level traffic conditions, two level incident severities, and eight level incident durations. After incident, the recovering duration to the normal traffic flow, increased by linear of incident duration. Total vehicles travel time increased and average travel speed decreased by squares curve of incident duration. Considering incident impacts, incident management system is evaluated the major function of the urban freeway traffic management system. Also, necessary the related research to detect, verify, and develop effective response strategies for traffic incidents.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.127-134
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• 2011

A traffic accident which happens in Expressway during dense fog is more likely to cause the sequential accidents and high death rate. So, the preventive measures shall be taken at dangerous areas to enhance the efficiency of roads and minimize the accidents and the resultant damages. So, it is necessary to find out the characteristics of freeway zone which has high risk of fog occurrence and to establish the comprehensive safety strategy on installation and operation of the safety equipment. In this study, I developed a fog forecasting model by using the freeway fog data. This model can be used as the fog forecasting model in dealing with fog problems when new road is planned. The model was developed by using a statistical analysis technique or the regression analysis, focusing on the variables such as geographical features and regional conditions, distances to water sources and the area of water source. I have segmented the models by classifying the area into inland area and coastal area. The distance to water source and area of the water source located around the freeway were found to be main factors causing fog.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.65-74
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• 2007

There have been research and studies on rumble strip effectiveness in terms of accident reduction since rumble strips were first installed in 1950's. Research has shown that rumble strips reduce accidents from drowsy and inattentive driving. The present research statistically analyze the accident reduction effect of rumble strips based on accident reports obtained from rumble strip installed 377 places of nation wide freeway lines. Based on the results, rumble strips are effective in reducing accident frequencies 32.3%. The probable various factors inducing accidents are identified. These include drowsiness, speeding, inattentiveness, vehicle defectiveness, and short headways. It was found that rumble strips are effective in reducing A, B, C leveled accidents, and in reducing clear, cloudy, and rainy weather accidents. The results may make clear and expand probable types of accidents that rumble strips would reduce, then reduce the total accidents on freeway lines.