• The Journal of The Korea Institute of Intelligent Transport Systems
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.16-26
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• 2011

Variable speed limit(VSL) is one of the highway ITS techniques designed to prevent accidents and traffic slow down by reducing congestion or speed variation between vehicles and lanes prior to arrive at the accident location by limiting speed. In Korea, while people have recognized the need for variable speed limit beginning with Seoul's urban expressway and installed facilities in order to provide guide for speed limit per lane and lane use, there has not been enough development of algorithm for internal administration as well as research on the basic principles behind administering variable speed limit. This study is for modeling and evaluating the VSL strategies based on the traffic flow theory. Supply-Demand method of the Cell Transmission Model is applied to demonstrate the traffic features and shockwaves to upstream of the bottleneck with/without VSL. We verified the explanation of Cell Transmission Model for the numerical example. and as the result, it is found that VSL strategies can reduce the total travel time in the congested section and variation of the speed. It means VSL is useful to improve the traffic condition and the safety on highway

• The Journal of The Korea Institute of Intelligent Transport Systems
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.116-127
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• 2017

A fog on road is known as a weather factor that affects traffic flow. The method in order to solve the problem, recently, Variable Speed Limit(VSL) which provide reasonable speed limit by road and weather conditions in real time is introduced. However, if drivers do not comply with VSL, the road safety more decrease than without VSL because individual vehicle's speed deviation is larger than without VSL. Therefore, this paper aims to analyze to speed limit compliance and traffic characteristics under foggy conditions with and without VSL. A test using driving simulator divides into normal and foggy condition with visibilities are 200m, 150, 50~100m. The test results showed that 70 subjects's average speed mostly obeyed speed limit, but speed deviation generally declined with VSL. Especially, the speed deviation more reduced under foggy conditions. According to this study, compliance of VSL clearly rose in low visibility and VSL helped improve road safety due to reduction of speed deviation. The results of this study are expected to make use of reasonable speed limit for reference.

• The Journal of The Korea Institute of Intelligent Transport Systems
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.91-103
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• 2016

The work zone traffic management is of keen interest because the unstable traffic stream in work zones leads to not only less productive traffic operational efficiency but also negative impacts on traffic safety. A promising method to address such issues is variable speed limit systems(VSLS). VSLS is expected to increase in throughput and to enhance safety by diminishing the crash potential. In addition, the usefulness of VSLS has been demonstrated by significant amount of existing literature. The objective of this study is to identify the effectiveness of VSLS based on a meta analysis technique. Throughput and travel speed were used as measures of effectiveness for VSLS in terms of the operational efficiency and safety respectively. Results showed that approximately 16.4% increase in throughput and 16.5% decrease in travel speed were obtainable by VSLS. The outcomes of this study would be useful in developing technologies and polices for better operation of VSLS.

• Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.3-15
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• 2013

The purpose of this study is to propose a methodology for operating variable speed limit (VSL) strategies in freeway work zones. A notable feature in this study is to incorporate a multi-criteria decision making process into deriving better VSL strategies. Decision criteria in this study include operational efficiency, safety, and environmental impacts. Travel speed, acceleration noise, and CO2 were used as performance measures for evaluating VSL strategies. A multi-criteria value function was developed through an analytical hierarchical process (AHP) for representing expert's knowledge. Then, a variety of VSL operations scenarios were investigated utilizing a microscopic traffic simulation suite, VISSIM. The proposed methodology would be useful in supporting more efficient, safer, and more environment-friendly traffic operations and control in freeway work zones.

• Journal of KIISE:Computing Practices and Letters
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• v.16 no.10
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• pp.962-974
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• 2010

Recently, the convergence of information technology with bio-technology, nano-technology or other technologies has been creating a new paradigm. In a field of transportation, the intelligent transport systems which is a convergence of intelligent technologies and transportation systems have been studied. The Variable Speed Limit(VSL), is one of ITS technologies, is thought to improve safety and efficiency of transportation while controlling speed limit based on road conditions. Legacy studies have considered only one station for VSL algorithm. However, it is not appropriate for an urban freeway installed with many stations. In this paper, new algorithm is proposed to not only enhance effectiveness of VSL based on cooperation of stations but also reflect road conditions within 30 seconds. The proposed algorithm consists of 4 steps: the first is a "searching bottleneck station" step, the second is a "calculating a size of congestion" step, the third is a "calculating the number of controlled stations" step, the final is a "calculating VSL" step. This algorithm guarantees improved safety and minimum additional travel time. The travel time should be considered because drivers would against the VSL algorithm when the proposed algorithm occurs additional travel time. In our experiments, microscopic traffic simulator VISSIM is selected to perform a modeling work. The results show that proposed algorithm provides the improved safety and minimum increase of travel time.

• Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.57-70
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• 2012

Variable speed limit(VSL) is a useful speed management tool for alleviating traffic congestion and enhancing traffic safety. The purpose of this study is to identify promising freeway segments for safety enhancement through VSL operations. An ordered probit model was adopted to capture factors affecting freeway crash severity that can be used to support decision making for selecting the promising segments. Pseudo elasticity and marginal effects, which are outcomes of the ordered probit analysis, were used to determine priority of promising segments for traffic safety. The results of this study would be useful in installing VSL systems and developing traffic control and operations strategies in practice.

• Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.111-121
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• 2008

Using variable speed limits (VSL) is a key strategy for preventing traffic accidents and alleviating traffic congestion. This study proposes an algorithm to operate VSLs on freeways for traffic safety. The proposed algorithm consists of two components based on accident likelihood estimation and analysis of safe stopping distance under various environmental conditions. A binary logistic regression technique is used for estimating accident likelihood. It is expected that the proposed algorithm would be successfully applied in practice in support of an integrated traffic and environmental condition monitoring system. Technical issues associated with the field implementation are also discussed.

• The Journal of The Korea Institute of Intelligent Transport Systems
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.65-76
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• 2018

This study aims to evaluate the legibility distances of variable speed limit sign(VSL) for different sizes, luminances, and fog conditions through a field experiment. For this, extensive fog simulated environment has been constructed, and legibility distances are tested and recorded among test subjects for different luminances and sizes of VSL in control. Results showed that legibility distance increased as the size of VSL increased in the given illumination conditions, but it was not an exact linear trend. The size was also an important factor for determining legibility distance as the fog density increased, especially heavy fog conditions. In addition, the legibility distance also increased as the given illumination levels of VSL improved.