A Critical Gap Model for Roundabouts in Korea

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.