Shared Space Safety: A Study of Campus Travel and Mixed Mode Interactions

Project Description

A study of campus travel and mixed-mode interactions will develop a data-driven baseline of safety conditions on Hilltop Way at San Diego State University—a steep roadway where pedestrians, skateboarders, scooter users, cyclists, and vehicles frequently converge, creating conflicts during class transitions. Video data collected from both ground-level cameras and aerial drone footage will capture user behaviors, travel speeds, yielding patterns, and near-miss events. Analytical techniques such as post-encroachment time (PET) and computer-vision–based variable extraction will be applied to quantify the frequency and severity of potential conflicts. The resulting dataset and safety assessment framework will enable rigorous before–after evaluations of future countermeasures introduced by the university, allowing their effectiveness to be measured in terms of changes in near-crash indicators and interaction dynamics. The project’s outputs—including annotated datasets, analysis tools, and methodological guidelines—will provide a transferable model for studying multimodal safety on shared streets, advancing U.S. DOT priorities in safety, innovation, and data-driven decision-making.