• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.95-103
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• 2016

PURPOSES : Permitted left turn is a turning maneuver in which a vehicle turns left using a gap between oncoming vehicles, called gap acceptance, and it enables for more efficient traffic operation at intersections. In Korea, the permitted left turn has not been a common maneuver at signalized or un-signalized intersections. However, many experts and the Police Agency tried to apply this effective turning maneuver at intersections in Korea since 2010. Though the investigation of gap acceptance is significantly important in understanding a driver's behavior at intersections, there have not been many studies about this topic, specifically a study to develop probability models of gap acceptance behavior. METHODS : In this study, the probability model of gap acceptance behavior for a permitted left turn was developed based on observational field studies. To develop the model, seven variables were analyzed including gap, waiting time, traffic volume, conflict-flow vehicle type, left-turning vehicle type, the number of lane, and time. RESULTS : In the final model, gap and left-turning vehicle type were found to be significant influencing factors. CONCLUSIONS : Through this model development, it was concluded that as the gap size increased, the probability of gap acceptance was higher. Moreover, when a left-turning vehicle was a passenger car, the probability of gap acceptance was higher than compared to large size buses or freight cars.

• Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.3-14
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• 1986

This study was undertaken to develop the gap acceptance model of left-turn drivers on the major road at intersections. Typical unsignalized intersections on the two-lane and four-lane streets in Masan City were selected for the study intersection. For the gap distribution model, the lognormal, negative exponential, shifted negative exponential, and Gamma distributions were tested using the x2 and K-S tests. Based on the results for both streets, it was concluded that among the distributions tested the lognormal distribution represented the gap distribution best, followed by the shifted negative exponential distribution. Stochastic models of the gap-acceptance behavior of left-turn drivers on the major road at unsignalized intersections were programmed using SLAM Ⅱ, a simulation computer language. A stochastic model was selected for the gap-acceptance behavior to compare the results of the simulation with the observed data. The model assumes that a fixed critical acceptance gap is assigned to each left-turn driver based on a normal distribution and the gap distribution of the opposing traffic stream follows the shifted negative exponential distribution.

• Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.71-80
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• 2008

Typically uncontrolled intersections are characterized by the absence of signal, stop and yield sign, and by very light traffic volume. In this study, a gap acceptance model for such uncontrolled intersections has been modeled. The motivation is to identify the behavior of drivers so that the traffic flow phenomena can be easily understood. For this, actual traffic survey was accomplished at intersections in Suwon and the data have been fed into modeling process. The logit model was used and the results showed that total delay experienced by drivers, turning right movement, age, sex, and the existence of passenger affected gap acceptance. For example, male drivers, with experiencing longer delay and having passenger(s) with them, accepted shorter gaps. These identified characteristics regarding gap acceptance could be used for facility design and/or safety oriented traffic information dissemination near uncontrolled intersections.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.13 no.9
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• pp.400-409
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• 2013

In this paper, considering the characteristics of the driver at roundabouts by investigating the critical gap acceptance on various traffic conditions, multi-legged roundabouts were evaluated. The gap acceptance and rejection of 4-legged, 5-legged, 6-legged, and 7-legged roundabout were surveyed on real fields, and the critical gap acceptance was estimated using Raff's methods. Derived the critical gap acceptance was processed calibration and validation for micro-simulation, and then multi-legged roundabouts under variable conditions such as variations of traffic volume, turning ratio, and size of inscribed circle diameter were evaluated to verify operating conditions of roundabouts. As the results, according to the operating traffic volume and turning ratio, the inscribed circle diameters were proposed at each level of service. These inscribed circle diameters were able to reflect the guideline of geometric design for multi-legged roundabouts.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.61-68
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• 2017

PURPOSES : A complete signal system is not always the best solution for improving traffic operation efficiency at intersections. An alternative solution is to use a Protected Permitted Left Turn (PPLT) operation method. However, the PPLT method needs to be developed after a detailed study of driving tendencies, most notably the gap acceptance behavior, for successful implementation. In this study, the gap acceptance behavior was investigated under various variables and weather conditions, especially under rain, and the results were compared to the case of normal weather. The results of this study will be helpful in introducing the PPLT method, and are important considering the tendency of attempting unprotected left turns that is extremely common in Korean drivers. METHODS : Data was obtained by analyzing traffic footage at four intersections on a day when the precipitation was greater than 5 mm/h. The collected data was classified into seven variables for statistical analysis. Finally, we used logistic regression analysis to develop a probability distribution model. RESULTS : Gap, traffic volume, and the number of conflicting lanes were factors affecting the gap acceptance behavior of unprotected left turns under rainy conditions. CONCLUSIONS : The probability of attempting unprotected left turns is higher for larger gaps. On the other hand, the probability of attempting unprotected left turns decreases with an increase in the traffic volume. Finally, an increase in the number of conflict lanes leads to a decrease in the probability of attempting unprotected left turns.

• Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.177-186
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• 2010

The principal objective of this paper is to develop road design guidelines, especially for managed lane access spacing between the expressway on-ramp (or off-ramp) and managed lane access point. Managed lanes are typically located in the expressway median and are accessed by weaving across the mainlines. The high level of lane-changing activity present in weaving areas affects capacity significantly. One promising tool for the analysis of lane-changing activity is "gap acceptance theory." This paper estimates the capacity of weaving areas based on the estimated degree of traffic turbulence using gap acceptance theory. The degree of traffic turbulence is represented by a function of the probability that lane-changing vehicles can complete their maneuvers successfully in a given weaving distance. In developing road design guidelines based on the developed gap acceptance model, the minimum managed lane access spacing is determined where the capacity with respect to the managed lane access spacing becomes stable.

• Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.93-100
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• 2012

This study dealt with the critical gap of roundabouts in Korea. The objective was to develop a model to derive critical gaps by analyzing gap acceptance patterns. In this context, the present study had a particular emphasis on collecting the data for accepted or rejected gaps. The main contributions of the study were as follows. First, accepted or rejected gaps were counted and measured through video frame analysis on the traffic patterns of 20 roundabouts in Korea. Based on the data, a gap acceptance model, guaranteeing the statistical significant in their parameters, was developed in the framework of the Logit model. Second, the critical gap calculated from the developed model was evaluated to be 2.584 seconds as a whole. Also, the critical gap in urban areas was estimated to be 2.744 seconds, whilst the critical gap in rural areas was estimated to be 2.416 seconds. Finally, critical gaps of roundabout in Korea were found to be smaller than those in foreign countries by about 1.5~2.5 seconds.

• Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.17-31
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• 1988

In this research, the behavior of weaving traffic is studied in terms of lane-changing behavior and gap acceptance characteristics. General trends in lane-changing behavior and gap acceptance characteristics are investigated by analyzing descriptive statistics and the factors affecting weaving behavior are determined by means of the multiple linear regression analysis. The results of analysis show that the behavior of weaving traffic is generally similar to that in a basic freeway section and an on- or of- ramp section. Traffic density and speed appear to be better parameters than traffic volume for explaining the behavior of weaving traffic. For the same purpose, using the traffic conditions of the origin and the destination lanes are found to be more effective than using the average traffic conditions of the freeway. A detailed analysis of the gap acceptance characteristics of late merging vehicles shows that there is no significant difference between the size of gaps accepted by late merging vehicles and that accepted by early merging vehicles.

• Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.72-87
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• 1986

본 연구의 목적은 주가로상 좌회전운전자의 문격수낙특성(gap-acceptance characteristics)을 파악하는 데 있다. 이 목적을 달성하기 위하여 포켓컴퓨터를 이용한 새로 운 자료수집기법이 개발되었다. 이 기법은 적은 비용으로 정확한 자료의 수집을 가능하게 하였다. 연구교차로는 마산시의 부도심에 위치한 2차선가로 및 4차선가로상의 전형적인 신 호등 비설치교차로가 선정되었다. 정규분포 및 대수정규분포가 probit분석을 이용하여 임계 수낙문격분포(critical acceptance gap distribution)로 검정되었다. 두 분포들은 5% 우의수준 에서 기각되지 않았다. 2차선가로의 임계수낙문격은 2.9∼3.0초의 범위였으며 표준편차는 1. 2∼1.5초의 범위였고, 4차선가로는 각각3.3∼3.4초와 1.3∼1.5초의 범위였다. 2차선가로의 임 계 lag는 2.6초였으며 4차선가로의 임계lag는 3.2초이었다. 국내 좌회전운전자의 임계수낙문 격이 미국인의 것에 비하여 짧은 것으로 나타났다. 이는 도시교통류의 주구성 차량이 직업 운전자들이 운전하는 소형 택시로 이루어지는 운전자 및 차량특성에 기인한 것으로 볼 수 있다.

• Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.5-20
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• 1992

Even though the types of ramp facilities in Korea are not various like other countries operations in these sections are very important because ramp merging and /or diverging flow affects freeway overall sections. In this study existing methodologies especially the gap acceptance model and the regression model in USHCM are evaluated with our field data. By gap acceptance model the merging capacity is founded 2.360 pcph which is increased by 7% than the capacity of freeway basic section. And in comparison of actual lane 1 volume to the estimation volume by HCM model the model slightly overestimates the actual volue.