MEMORANDUM

Date: March 6, 2016

To: George Hughes, Chief of Police
Cc: Morgan Livingston
From: Isabella Rigelman
Subject: Building a Safer Crosswalk Outside of Santa Lucia
Attached is a recommendation report regarding the safety of pedestrians crossing Grand Avenue
outside of Santa Lucia.
Recommendations
Three recommendations were thoroughly considered during this recommendation report, all of
which have the hopes of improving student safety outside of the dorms. They are listed below:
A simple crosswalk sign
A HAWK beacon
A crosswalk similar to the one downtown on Higuera Street
Methods
Five methods of research were used when constructing this recommendation report. Each
method helped guide me towards my final recommendation. The methods are listed below:
Interview with Patrick Rockwood
Student Survey
Interview with Scott Bloom
Experiment
Online Research
Final Recommendation
I recommend that the University Police Department at California Polytechnic State University
install a HAWK beacon on North Perimeter Road and Grand Avenue. I also recommend that the
University Police Department add a simple crosswalks sign at the crosswalk outside of Santa
Lucia.
Thank you for the opportunity to present to you my recommendation report for building a safer
crosswalk outside of Santa Lucia. I greatly appreciate your time, and invite you to contact me
with any questions concerning the project.

Building a Safer Crosswalk

Outside of Santa Lucia Dorms
on Cal Polys Campus

Prepared for: George Hughes

Chief of Police
California Polytechnic State
University Police Department
Prepared by: Isabella Rigelman

Date submitted: March 7, 2016

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Table of Contents
Introduction. 5-7
Methods.. 7-8
1. Interview with Patrick Rockwood .... 7
2. Student Survey... 7
3. Interview with Scott Bloom... 7
4. Experiment. 7
5. Online Research. 8
Results. 8-9
1. Interview with Patrick Rockwood .... 8
2. Student Survey... 8-9
3. Interview with Scott Bloom... 9
4. Experiment. 9
5. Online Research. 9
Conclusion... 9-10
Recommendation. 10
Works Cited.... 11
Figures Cited... 12

Table of Figures
Figure 1: Crosswalk on Higuera Street in San Luis Obispo, CA 5
Figure 2: Pedestrian Sign. 6
Figure 3: Pedestrian Sign. 6
Figure 4: Pedestrian Sign. 6
Figure 5: HAWK (High Intensity Activated Crosswalk) pedestrian
Signal... 6
Figure 6: Data from Student Survey.... 7

Introduction
Description of Topic
This recommendation report is going to be about creating a safer crosswalk outside of the Santa
Lucia dorms on Cal Polys campus. Currently, cars rarely stop for pedestrians, which leads to
walkers feeling like they need to dart out in front of cars to be able to cross. This is problematic
because it can cause major injuries to pedestrians, and drivers who try to dodge walkers. This is
especially bad on the weekend nights when students are driving around intoxicated. I have found
that if I want to cross, I have to walk in front of a car; drivers do not stop unless they feel as though
they have to. At this time, there is a marked crosswalk in front of Santa Lucia, but the marked
crosswalk does not seem to influence how often cars stop.
Purpose for Writing
This project is important in creating a safer community at Cal Poly. The main audience for this
recommendation report is the University Police Department on Cal Polys campus. The idea for this
project was brought on because of how often I have heard students vocalizing their fear of being hit
by a car. I have had numerous occasions where I have needed to walk out in front of cars to get them
to stop. This recommendation report has been inspired by a desire to make the Santa Lucia and Cal
Poly community safer on a daily basis.
Recommendations being investigated
There are three recommendations being requested. Below you will see a brief description of each
recommendation that is being considered throughout this report.
I.

One of the recommendations is to implement a crosswalk similar to the one that is in

downtown San Luis Obispo on Higuera Street. You may see a picture of this particular
crosswalk below. This cross walk works by automatically flashing lights when a person
steps foot in the crosswalk.

Figure 1: Crosswalk on Higuera Street in San Luis Obispo, CA.

II.

The second recommendation being researched is to simply put up a pedestrian crossing

sign. These signs are generally yellow, and have a picture of people crossing a street.
See figures 2, 3, and 4 below.

Figure 2: Pedestrian Sign

III.

Figure 3: Pedestrian Sign

Figure 4: Pedestrian Sign

The third method being investigated is to implement a crosswalk where pedestrians

would hit a button when they are waiting at the crosswalk. This type of crosswalk is
reffered to as the HAWK system. There would be a signal above the crosswalk that
would turn red to signal to the drivers to stop. This light signal would only turn red every
so often, so that cars do not get stuck at the light for long periods of time. To understand
this system better, refer to figure 5 below.

Figure 5: HAWK (High Intensity Activated Crosswalk) pedestrian signal

Organization
This report is organized by primary and secondary resources. Within those two categories, the report
is organized in chronological order, so that the recommendation is easy to follow. Each section will
contain specific, pertinent information to the topic. The first section will elaborate on the methods
that I used to come up with the results that will ultimately be seen in the following section. The

results section will be what leads me to my conclusion, which will be my third section. Lastly, I will
make my final recommendation based off of the method, results, and conclusion that I list below.
Methods
Below is a brief description of the methods used to construct this recommendation report. Each
method is used to develop a better understanding of crosswalk safety on Cal Polys campus. There
are two sections below: one contains four primary sources, and the other section consists a secondary
source.
Primary Sources
Method 1 Interview with Patrick Rockwood
For my first method I tried getting an interview with several people in Cal Polys University Police
Department. I got ahold of Patrick Rockwood who works in crime prevention on Cal Polys campus.
Unfortunately, I could not get an in-person interview, but I was able to ask my questions in an email,
and I got detailed responses to each question listed below:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Do you have any reported incidents of students being hit by cars or by bikes in crosswalks?
How many DUIs are given on campus
Do police generally give out tickets when they see drivers not obeying pedestrian laws?
Do you happen to know the average speed that drivers go down Grand Avenue at?
Is there any other information you would like to add?

Method 2 - Student Survey

My second method was to create a student survey using Google Forms. The survey I created
included six quick yes-or-no questions. I sent out the survey to all of the Santa Lucia residents via
GroupMe. The specific questions are listed below:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Have you ever had to wait for cars to stop at the crosswalk?
Have you ever had to walk in front of cars to get them to stop so that you can cross?
Do you feel safe when trying to cross the street?
Do you feel less safe when crossing at night? (In the dark).
Do you believe Cal Poly should implement some sort of signage to regulate foot and auto
traffic?

Method 3 - Interview with Scott Bloom

My third method was to interview the Facilities Director for Cal Poly, Scott Bloom. I asked him
preplanned questions that are seen below:
1. What is your current position at Cal Poly?
2. Do you believe there is an issue on campus regarding drivers stopping at crosswalks for
pedestrians? More specifically, do you notice this issue outside of Santa Lucia?
3. What sort of suggestions do you have when deciding what recommendation to present to the
University Police Department?

Method 4 - Experiment
My fourth method was to do a miniature experiment to find out how many cars stop outside of the
Santa Lucia dorms to allow pedestrians to stop. I conducted this experiment by spending twenty
minutes sitting outside in front of the cross walk ten minutes before the hour and ten minutes after
the hour. I tallied how many cars choose to stop, and how many cars continued when pedestrians
were waiting at the crosswalk.
Secondary Sources
Method 5- Online Research
My fifth method of research was to research databases to find different techniques cities use to make
crosswalks safer. I also looked for statistics about the efficacy of these different techniques. The
Kennedy Library and Mustang News were the major contributors when compiling this information.
Results
In this section, the results from each method carried out are presented, and the most important
information is summarized below:
Primary Sources
Results for Method 1 Information from University Police Department
Rockwood answered my first question by stating that many vehicle versus pedestrians, mostly bike
versus pedestrian, but many go unreported. Rockwood also stated that about twenty DUIs are given
out on Cal Polys campus each year. To answer my third question, Rockwood said that giving out
tickets to drivers for not yielding to pedestrians is to each officers discretion. Even though the speed
limit was recently lowered to 25 miles per an hour, Rockwood said that he believes the average speed
of drivers on Grand Avenue is close to 35 miles per an hour. Rockwood also mentioned that he
believed that the most dangerous intersection was the one connecting Perimeter Road and Grand
Avenue by the North Mountain dorms.
Results for Method 2 Student Survey
The results from the student survey were incredibly helpful when deciding what degree of signage
that crosswalk needed. Out of 115 residents this survey was sent to, a little over 60 people replied
with their opinions on the crosswalk outside of Santa Lucia. The data from these questions are
depicted below.

Results From Student Survey

70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0

Question 1

Question 2
Yes

Question 3

Question 4

No

Figure 6: Data from Student Survey

For convenience, the questions asked in the student survey are listed again below.
1. Have you ever had to wait for cars to stop at the crosswalk?
2. Have you ever had to walk in front of cars to get them to stop so that you can cross?
3. Do you feel safe when trying to cross the street?
4. Do you feel less safe when crossing at night? (In the dark).
5. Do you believe Cal Poly should implement some sort of signage to regulate foot and auto
traffic?
Results for Method 3 Interview with Scott Bloom
Scott Bloom is the Director of Facilities Operations, and the Associate Director of Housing. He is in
charge of making sure that the residents who are living on campus have their voices heard.
The purpose of this interview was to bring attention to Scott that the crosswalk outside of Santa
Lucia Hall is not safe. From the interview I was also inspired to research the HAWK system as a
solution to the issue regarding the crosswalk.
Results for Method 4 - Experiment
During my experiment I found that on average 12 pedestrians crossed the crosswalk each minute. I
found that about seven cars drove through the crosswalk every minute. Ultimately, I found that 40%
of cars did not stop during these peak hours of ten minutes before the hour and ten minutes after the
hour.
Secondary Sources
Results for Method 5 Online Research
Mustang News
During my online research I found an article from Mustang News. The article on the Slight Increase
in Pedestrian Accidents on Campus explained an incident when a Cal Poly student was hit by a
Campus Dining vehicle in a crosswalk. The article goes on to recall another incident when a
psychology student was hit by a car and fractured her skull when her foot got caught under the
moving vehicle [1].

Mustang News noted that 23 pedestrian-vehicle accidents have occurred on campus since 2005.
The author goes on to say that during the current year, 2011, four of the 23 accidents happened,
which was the highest yearly number since 2008, when there were six. When the article was
published, the chief of the University Police Department mentioned that for the numbers of people
and the numbers of cars moving around, we (Cal Poly) [was] very lucky [1].
Safety Effectiveness of the HAWK Pedestrian Crossing Treatment
This article was a lengthy report about the efficacy of the HAWK beacon. In this report, the Federal
Highway Administration noted that after the HAWK beacon is installed, people can expect
pedestrian/vehicle collisions to reduce by 69%. The FHA also stated that 97% of motorists obey the
rules of the HAWK system [2].
The Effects of Innovative Pedestrian Signs at Unsignalized Location: A Tale of Three Treatments
In this article from 200, the Federal Highway Administration placed pedestrian crosswalk signs in
two cities Portland and New York. They discovered that when signs were posted, 63.2% of
motorists yielded to pedestrians, as opposed to the 51.5% that yielded prior to the sign going up [3].
Conclusion
In this report, five methods of research were used to decide which of three recommendations were
the best. The first recommendation was to implement a simple crosswalk sign, the second
recommendation was to install a HAWK beacon, and the third recommendation was to add a
crosswalk similar to the one on Higuera Street in San Luis Obispo.
Putting up a crosswalk sign before drivers reach the crosswalk would be cheap and would take very
little time. According to The Effects of Innovative Pedestrian Signs at Unsignalized Location: A
Tale of Three Treatments a simple crosswalk sign would increase the number of times drivers yield
to pedestrians by a little over ten percent. Although ten percent would make a pretty significant
impact, I do not believe these results would be adequate enough to pursue.
Installing a HAWK system would be expensive, and would take longer to install. On the other end,
from my interview with Scott Bloom I had realized that even though, by law, drivers have to stop
when pedestrians reach a crosswalk, it can still cause massive buildup in traffic. This is why having
a system that regulates walkers and drivers would be the best option. In Safety Effectiveness of the
HAWK Pedestrian Crossing Treatment the Federal Highway Administration found that 97% of
drivers yield to pedestrians.
The last option is to implement the crosswalk like the one downtown. This option would be costly
and would also take a lot of time. There is little to no research on this type of crosswalk, but I
believe that the number of drivers that yield to pedestrians would be close to the same as the number
that yield to pedestrians with the HAWK system.
All three recommendations would improve pedestrian safety, but only one of these systems also has
the opportunity to improve foot traffic and automobile traffic at once. The HAWK beacon is the
only recommendation that can improve the movement of automobiles, and also keep pedestrians safe.

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Recommendation
I recommend that the University Police Department implement the HAWK system at the crosswalk at
the intersection on Grand and North Perimeter. Even though this was not the crosswalk initially
being studied, there are three different flows of traffic joining at that intersection, and based off the
information gathered through the chain of emails with Cal Polys University Police Department, that
crosswalk is the most dangerous crosswalk on campus at this time. I also recommend that a simple
crosswalk sign is put up at the crosswalk by Santa Lucia, and that the currently existing crosswalk
markings have a layer of reflective paint over the top of them so that drivers can see pedestrians more
clearly at night. This project should cost Cal Poly about $80,000, and would take about three
months.

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Works Cited
Slight increase in pedestrian accidents on campus - Mustang News, Mustang News, 2011.
[Online]. Available at: http://mustangnews.net/pedestrian-accidents-on-campus-show-slightincrease-construction-unrelated/. [Accessed: 07-Mar-2016].
"Safety Effectiveness of the HAWK Pedestrian Crossing Treatment", 2016. [Online]. Available:
http://www.cmfclearinghouse.org/studydocs/Safety%20Effectiveness%20of%20the%20HAWK
%20Pedestrian%20Crossing%20Treatment%20(Fitzpatrick%20and%20Park,%202010).PDF.
[Accessed: 07- Mar- 2016].
The Effects of Innovative Pedestrian Signs at Unsignalized Locations: A Tale of Three
Treatments, Aug-2000. [Online]. Available at:
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/research/safety/00098/00098.pdf.

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Figures Cited
Figure 1. http://blog.joemcnally.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/_jm10337.jpg. 6 Mach 2016.
Figure 2. http://www.chicagonow.com/running-with-a-book-cart/files/2012/02/crosswalk1.jpg. 6
Mach 2016.
Figure 3.
http://previews.123rf.com/images/zigzagmtart/zigzagmtart1206/zigzagmtart120600038/1400099
4-Yellow-bright-pedestrian-crossing-traffic-sign-Stock-Photo-sign-safety-road.jpg. 6 Mach 2016.
Figure 4. http://www.trafficsign.us/650/reg/r1-6.gif. 6 Mach 2016.
Figure 5. https://bloomington.in.gov/media/media/image/jpeg/13144.jpg. 6 Mach 2016.

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