Exploration of Older Adults’ Travel Behavior and Their Transportation Barriers

Both the number of older adults and their proportion of the population are increasing rapidly in the United States. By 2040, about 20.7% of the U.S. population will be 65 and older (Harrison & Ragland, 2003a). These dramatic changes in the composition of the population will bring new challenges to the provision of transportation services. This is because the travel patterns and needs of older adults are likely to become more complicated. A growing number of people will find it increasingly difficult to meet their transportation needs. As the life expectancy of older adults is likely to continue to increase, a greater number of older people will face mobility issues alone (Alsnih & Hensher, 2003). Researchers widely agree that the aging population in the U.S. relies heavily on cars (as drivers or passengers) because they are convenient, flexible, and allow them to live independently and participate in normal daily activities (Haustein, 2012; Rosenbloom, 2005). However, dispersed land use patterns in the United States, the growing number of older adults living in suburban areas, and the current transportation infrastructure in the country make the use of a car a necessity rather than an option for a large proportion of older adults. However, as they age, their physical and mental health deteriorates, making driving dangerous for them. Therefore, it is of great importance to understand the transportation problems of older adults and provide them with reliable and acceptable alternative modes of transportation to help them meet their transportation needs. The study presented here aims to examine the transportation problems of older adults living in urban and suburban areas, make policy recommendations, and identify effective strategies to help them meet their mobility needs. To this end, the study used a mixed-method approach to identify the factors that influence older adults\u27 travel behavior and the issues they face when walking, biking, and using transit. In-depth, one-on-one surveys were conducted in three counties in southeastern Wisconsin with 178 English-speaking older adults aged 65 and older living independently in institutionalized senior housing (i.e., subsidized housing and retirement communities) and in noninstitutionalized buildings. The first main chapter of the thesis (Chapter 4) examines the factors that influence older adults\u27 mode choice for grocery shopping and aims to predict older adults\u27 travel behavior for going to the grocery store. A quantitative analysis involving statistical and machine learning techniques was conducted with older adults who traveled to the grocery store by car, carpool, walking, or public transit (N=153). The results of the study show that household car ownership and having a valid driver\u27s license are the most important factors influencing travel mode choice by older adults. However, age group (65-74 or 75+) and physical disability were not significant factors influencing older adults\u27 choice of transportation mode for grocery shopping. The second main chapter of this study (Chapter 5) examines the reasons why older adults who hold a valid driver\u27s license intend to renew their license when it expires (yes), or whether they do not intend to do so or are hesitant (no/not sure). Using a mixed-method approach including binomial logit regression and qualitative analysis, 116 older adults were surveyed. Results suggest that being 75 years of age and older, having a physical disability, and having a lower level of education (high school and below) negatively influence older adults\u27 decision to renew their driver\u27s license. Older adults who drive frequently and indicate that they would like to be able to drive to destinations easily are more likely to renew their driver\u27s license after it expires. The third main chapter of this thesis (Chapter 6) aims to examine the barriers and challenges older adults face when using modes of transportation other than the personal automobile, such as walking, bicycling, public transit, and ride-hailing. A qualitative content analysis of the 103 open-ended responses was used to fit the results into an ecological model. The study recommends four main actions to help policymakers and city governments overcome these barriers: (1) implement transportation education and outreach programs, (2) improve accessibility to services and facilities through land use policies, (3) improve transportation infrastructure and services, and (4) help for-profit and nonprofit organizations organize informal groups to walk, bike, or carpool together. This thesis has important implications for policy makers and urban practitioners to meet the transportation needs of older adults. Improving transportation infrastructure and providing older adults with reliable and high-standard non-automobile transportation alternatives, managing future land use dynamics and investing in sustainable land use patterns, and coordinating with organizations to support social networks (such as informal clubs and local groups) that help older adults meet their travel needs are among some of these important implications

Characterising and modeling the co-evolution of transportation networks and territories

The identification of structuring effects of transportation infrastructure on territorial dynamics remains an open research problem. This issue is one of the aspects of approaches on complexity of territorial dynamics, within which territories and networks would be co-evolving. The aim of this thesis is to challenge this view on interactions between networks and territories, both at the conceptual and empirical level, by integrating them in simulation models of territorial systems.Comment: Doctoral dissertation (2017), Universit\'e Paris 7 Denis Diderot. Translated from French. Several papers compose this PhD thesis; overlap with: arXiv:{1605.08888, 1608.00840, 1608.05266, 1612.08504, 1706.07467, 1706.09244, 1708.06743, 1709.08684, 1712.00805, 1803.11457, 1804.09416, 1804.09430, 1805.05195, 1808.07282, 1809.00861, 1811.04270, 1812.01473, 1812.06008, 1908.02034, 2012.13367, 2102.13501, 2106.11996

Situational Domesticity

The contemporary private home is a complex and fascinating site for exploring the increasingly ambiguous separatrix between the public and private realms, between the social collective and the individual family as well as between members of a distinct family

Lockdown lifted: measuring spatial resilience from London’s public transport demand recovery

The disruptive effects of the COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly shifted how individuals navigate in cities. Governments are concerned that travel behavior will shift toward a car-driven and homeworking future, shifting demand away from public transport use. These concerns place the recovery of public transport in a possible crisis. A resilience perspective may aid the discussion around recovery–particularly one that deviates from pre-pandemic behavior. This paper presents an empirical study of London’s public transport demand and introduces a perspective of spatial resilience to the existing body of research on post-pandemic public transport demand. This study defines spatial resilience as the rate of recovery in public transport demand within census boundaries over a period after lockdown restrictions were lifted. The relationship between spatial resilience and urban socioeconomic factors was investigated by a global spatial regression model and a localized perspective through Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) model. In this case study of London, the analysis focuses on the period after the first COVID-19 lockdown restrictions were lifted (June 2020) and before the new restrictions in mid-September 2020. The analysis shows that outer London generally recovered faster than inner London. Factors of income, car ownership and density of public transport infrastructure were found to have the greatest influence on spatial patterns in resilience. Furthermore, influential relationships vary locally, inviting future research to examine the drivers of this spatial heterogeneity. Thus, this research recommends transport policymakers capture the influences of homeworking, ensure funding for a minimum level of service, and advocate for a polycentric recovery post-pandemic

Urban planning and degrowth: a missing dialogue

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