PURPOSES: Traffic safety facilities are used to prevent traffic accidents before they occur by providing drivers with information on traffic situations and the geometric design of roads. However, some facilities not defined in guidelines do not meet installation criteria, yet are being installed and used in order to increase efficiency in traffic flow and prevent traffic accidents in a specific expressway zone. In this study, we have evaluated the effect of delineation system which are not defined in the guideline criteria. METHODS : Different virtual scenarios were created for roads using expressway median barrier chevron signs, with a driving simulator used to evaluate the installation and operational effect of such signs. Ten experiments were performed with left- and right-curved roads at curve radius intervals of 500 m, from 500 m to 2,500 m. RESULTS: For sections with a curve radius of more than 1,500 m, drivers had a clear tendency toward stable driving regardless of delineation system. When a chevron sign is installed on a protection fence in the road curving left, an expanded installation is recommended up to the section with a curve radius of 1,000 m. According to the analysis results for the RHB (Relative High Beta spectrum), driving concentration also improved up to a curve radius of 1,000 m. CONCLUSIONS: The experiment result indicates the extent of biasing within a lane and the manipulation amount of steering handle, were analyzed and found to be affected by curve radius and road alignment regardless of delineation system.

PURPOSES : This study was conducted to analyze the effects arising from extending the duration of nighttime road construction on improving road quality and durability. METHODS : Most previous studies estimating the social cost of various construction conditions did not consider road pavement cooling time as a factor in improving road pavement quality. This study investigated the feasibility of achieving higher road quality and durability by extending the duration of nighttime road construction time extension. For this investigation, the effects of such an extension on traffic conditions were analyzed based on micro-simulation studies and scenario-based cost-benefit analyses, using factors including traffic volume, delay, construction cost, and road pavement cooling time. RESULTS : The results of the traffic simulation studies and cost-benefit analyses indicate that the current road construction method that emphasizes completing nighttime road construction by 6 a.m. reduces pavement life while causing relatively little traffic delay. If the night construction time is instead extended to 2 p.m., road pavement lifetime is increased, reducing road re-construction cost. These savings are greater than the cost of congestion arising from extending the duration of nighttime construction. CONCLUSIONS : The current nighttime construction durations need to be extended in order to efficiently manage roads and reduce road management costs.

PURPOSES: This study aims to evaluate the effects of vehicle dynamic behaviors on ride quality. METHODS: Simulation and field test were conducted to analyze the behavior of a driving vehicle. The simulation program CarSIM was applied and an INS (Inertial Navigation System) was used for field experiments. A small simulator was developed to simulate vehicle behavior such as roll, pitch, and bounce. The panels evaluated the ride quality in five stages from “very satisfied”to “very dissatisfied.”Experiments were conducted on a total of 144 cases of vehicle behavior combinations. RESULTS: In both simulation and field tests, pitch is the largest and yaw the smallest. Especially in the field test, the amount of yaw is very low, about 7% of pitch and 18% of roll. The sensitive and extensive analysis conducted related ride quality with changing the frequency and amplitude. It was found that the most sensitive frequency range is 8 Hz across all amplitudes. Moreover, the combination of the roll and bounce was most sensitive to the ride quality at the low-frequency range. CONCLUSIONS: This result show that the vertical vehicle behavior (bounce) as well as the rotational behavior (roll and pitch) are highly correlated with ride quality. Therefore, it is expected that a more reasonable roughness index can be developed through a combination of vertical and rotational vehicle behavior.