Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2017
College/Unit
School of Medicine
Department/Program/Center
Epidemiology
Abstract
Background With an ever increasing population of older adults (65+ years) in the USA, a better understanding of this population’s travel patterns is needed to improve travel mobility and transportation safety.
Objective In this study, we described the travel patterns of older adults in the USA during 2015.
Methods Travel patterns of older adults (65–74 and 75+ years) were compared with younger adults (25–64 years) by frequency and proportion of daily trips. The daily trips of various age groups were estimated using the 2015 American Time Use Survey.
Results The percentage of daily travellers was 88% for adults (25–64 years), 75% for adults (65–74 years) and 68% for adults (75+ years). While the percentage of privately owned vehicle (POV) drivers and average time of driving POVs decreased, the percentage of POV passengers increased as adults aged. Females were less likely to drive POVs and had decreased average daily driving time, but they were more likely to ride in POVs as passengers and had longer average daily riding times than their male counterparts across all age groups. Older adults were more likely to travel in the mornings and early afternoons (from 8:00 to 15:59) while younger adults were more likely to travel in the late afternoons and early evenings (from 16:00 to 19:59).
Conclusions POV use is the predominant mode of transit in the USA. As adults age, the percentages of daily travellers and POV drivers decrease. This pattern is more apparent among females than males. This study delineated travel patterns of older adults using a 2015 national survey, and the findings facilitate traffic systems designers and policy-makers to develop and implement initiatives to accommodate older adults’ mobility needs and improve traffic safety.
This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Digital Commons Citation
Shen, Sijun; Koech, Wilson; Feng, Jing; Rice, Thomas M.; and Zhu, Motao, "A cross-sectional study of travel patterns of older adults in the USA during 2015: implications for mobility and traffic safety" (2017). Faculty & Staff Scholarship. 1547.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/faculty_publications/1547
Source Citation
Shen, S., Koech, W., Feng, J., Rice, T. M., & Zhu, M. (2017). A cross-sectional study of travel patterns of older adults in the USA during 2015: implications for mobility and traffic safety. BMJ Open, 7(8), e015780. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2016-015780
Comments
© Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/