How is the transcription direction of RNA polymerase determined?
Transcription always proceeds in the direction 5' (5-prime) to 3' (3-prime) on the coding strand of DNA. Binding of both transcription factors and RNA polymerase to DNA depends on sequence motifs in the DNA. Transcription always happens in the same direction with respect to the chemical structure of the coding DNA strand, while the transcription direction with respect to the structure of the chromosome depends on which strand the coding sequence is found on (and thus which strand is defined as the coding strand for that gene).