• 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 the Society of Disaster Information
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.597-606
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• 2015

Until now, u-turn lane installation methods have been studied variously. But, There is no specific standard yet. This study ranges are commercial area in Incheon metropolitan city through field investigation and presents specific design standard for efficient operation of left turn using a field data through calculating relevant permitted u-turn lane length and minimum separation distance from the front intersection to starting point of permitted u-turn lane in urban signalized intersections in commercial area. Relevant permitted u-turn lane length is found to be 32m and minimum separation distances from the front intersection to starting point of permitted u-turn lanes are 72m, 40m, 24m in case of 1 left turn lane, 2 left turn lanes and 3 left turn lanes respectively. By comparing result values and field data, they had a large difference under the similar situations in their lengths. This result is caused of no specific standard about design of u-turn lanes. If results of this study applied to design of u-turn lanes, signalized intersections in urban commercial areas would be operated more safety and efficiently.

• The Journal of The Korea Institute of Intelligent Transport Systems
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.60-67
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• 2010

Delay reduction of vehicles at the intersection is highly dependent on the signal operation method. Most previous traffic operations have focused on minimizing delay by adjust traffic offset. However, these methods have limitation in solving traffic problem if the volume reaches or exceeds the capacity. In this paper, it was analyzed that the effectiveness of various signal operation methods such as left-turn prohibition, and using protected mixed with permitted left turn using the traffic data from Daejeon city. In case of the left-turn prohibition of a intersection, the control delay reduced from 54.2 seconds to 22.7 seconds and especially, the delay of the southbound was drastically reduced. In addition, the delay was highly reduced from 27.0 seconds to 12.1 seconds when the operation system was changed to use protected mixed with permitted left turn.

• 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.

• The Journal of The Korea Institute of Intelligent Transport Systems
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.127-136
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• 2013

In order to improve the safety and efficiency of traffic signal operation, several core projects of advanced transportation operating systems were implemented in Changwon City. This project included 10 units such as the expansion of roundabout, the permitted left-turn signal operation and the effectiveness of the projects was assessed using before and after studies. This paper presented the quantitative and qualitative evaluation results for three projects: roundabout, permitted left-turn signal operation, and left-turn actuated signal operation. From the analysis results, average travel speed was improved by 16.8% from the installation of roundabouts and average travel time and control delay were reduced by 12.4% and 41.6% respectively, from permitted left-turn operation. It was found that average control delay was reduced about 26.7% from left-turn actuated signal operation. In addition, more than 57.7% of the surveyed people was satisfied with the operational performance of the roundabout implemented. It is expected that the operational performance of traffic signal can be greatly improved by incorporating the proper projects of advanced transportation operating systems in other cities.

• Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.107-118
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• 2003

Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) provides an analytical delay estimation model to assist the evaluation of traffic at a signalized intersection. The model revised and included in the HCM published in the year 2000 reflects the results of recent studies and is utilized in various fields of transportation studies. For the implementation of the model in the case of permitted left turns, the HCM supplement provides a computational procedure to adjust the saturation flow rate of permitted left toms. The model however, is originally designed for a protected movement and thus underestimates the delay of permitted left turns due to its difference right-of-way nature. This document describes (1) a review of the theoretical background of the HCM delay estimation model, (2) problems embedded in the model for the delay estimation of permitted left turns, (3) a proposed model developed in this study to improve the delay estimation for permitted left turns and (4) a set of verification tests. In order to reflect various traffic and control conditions in the test, simulation studies were performed to by using the field data based on 120 different permitted left-turn scenarios. Comparison studies conducted between sets of delays estimated by the HCM and the proposed models against a set of the CORSIM delays and showed that the proposed model improved the estimation of the permitted left-turn delays. The explanatory variable of the relationship between the HCM delay and the simulation delay was 0.47 and the one between the delay estimated by the proposed model and the simulation delay was 0.77.

• The Journal of The Korea Institute of Intelligent Transport Systems
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.46-56
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• 2015

The purpose of this study is to find out the effectiveness of drivers' satisfaction over protected and permissive left-turn (PPLT) traffic signal operation. A structural equation model was established for analyzing the effectiveness of various drivers' factors (e.g., personal characteristics, driving attitude, expectation to PPLT, etc.) on the PPLT preference based on questionnaire survey. As a result, the analysis is satisfied with the critical values, such as Q value, RMR, GIF, AGIF, and NFI. The study reveals that PPLT preference increases in case of driver who is male with long social carrier related to transportation affaire and long driving experience without traffic accident involvement. Moreover, PPLT preference increases as the expectation of PPLT to improvement of traffic safety, traffic operation, and traffic environment increases. Therefore, it is recommended that the PPLT should be preferentially operated in urban area of less traffic accidents and the promotion of PPLT be actively conducted for positive effectiveness.

• Proceedings of the KOR-KST Conference
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• 2007.02a
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• pp.315-324
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• 2007

• The Journal of The Korea Institute of Intelligent Transport Systems
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• v.3 no.2 s.5
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• pp.75-83
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• 2004

July 1, 2004 Seoul Metropolitan city is operating the Median Bus Lane System on Gangnam Main Street, Seongsan-Susaek-ro (Road) and Dobong- Mia-ro (Road) as one of the systematic reorganizations in public transportation. It has been assumed that there was an improvement in the speed of bus considering that the Median Bus Lane System practiced on Cheonho-daero (Main Street) since 1996 have had 35km/h on the average. If the Median Bus Lane goes into effect, there is a problem with the left turn on the crossroad. The buses go on the existing first lane so that the left fuming cars cannot help but turn left on the second lane. In case that the Median Bus Lane is put into practice, the left turn on the crossroad should not be allowed. However, if the left turn is not permitted on the crossroads in the aforementioned main streets, neighboring residents will complain about it and there will be some difficulties in finding other detour. On the premise that the prevalent left turn on the crossroads is allowed while the Median Bus Lane is being put into practice, this study suggests the separation of a stop line between buses and other vehicles as a way of fuming left in a safe manner and a way to calculate the appropriate distance.

• The Journal of The Korea Institute of Intelligent Transport Systems
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.30-44
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• 2020

The application of PPLT is difficult to analyze and judge only from the effects of the delay time. In this study, the application of PPLT was proposed using not only the delay time of PLT and PPLT due to the change in traffic volume and the number of opposite straight lanes but also the traffic volume of passing a left turn and the number of conflict risks as indicators. According to the analysis, the more left-turn traffic than capacity and the less opposite-straight volume, the greater the PPLT effect. On the other hand, if the left-turn traffic is below capacity, the delay time will be reduced partially, but the overall passing left turn volume will not increase, and the conflict risk will increase. In addition, the conflict risk increases in the third lane or higher. Moreover, the difference of passing left-turn volume between PLT and PPLT showed a pattern similar to the delay time difference, and the PPLT coverage was wider than the difference in delay time and was associated more with the conflict risk numbers. Therefore, it would be reasonable to use passing left-turn traffic primarily, consider the delay time below the left-turn capacity, and consider the conflicting risk numbers simultaneously at or above the opposite straight three lanes.