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Purpose This study aims to investigate the safety effects of work zone advisory systems. The traditional system includes a dynamic message sign (DMS), whereas the advanced system includes an in-vehicle work zone warning application under the connected vehicle (CV) environment. Design/methodology/approach A comparative analysis was conducted based on the microsimulation experiments. Findings The results indicate that the CV-based warning system outperforms the DMS. From this study, the optimal distances of placing a DMS varies according to different traffic conditions. Nevertheless, negative influence of excessive distance DMS placed from the work zone would be more obvious when there is heavier traffic volume. Thus, it is recommended that the optimal distance DMS placed from the work zone should be shortened if there is a traffic congestion. It was also revealed that higher market penetration rate of CVs will lead to safer network under good traffic conditions. Research limitations/implications Because this study used only microsimulation, the results do not reflect the real-world drivers’ reactions to DMS and CV warning messages. A series of driving simulator experiments need to be conducted to capture the real driving behaviors so as to investigate the unresolved-related issues. Human machine interface needs be used to simulate the process of in-vehicle warning information delivery. The validation of the simulation model was not conducted because of the data limitation. Practical implications It suggests for the optimal DMS placement for improving the overall efficiency and safety under the CV environment. Originality/value A traffic network evaluation method considering both efficiency and safety is proposed by applying traffic simulation.

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