Measuring Public Transport Accessibility for Elderly

Abstract

The growth acceleration in the older population has been observed in many countries which creates a significant challenge to transportation. Public transport is an essential component of most people’s lives. This specific group of population growth will require special attention to accessibility and mobility issues in combination with the transport system which undoubtedly can play a key role to support ageing. Good health, quality of life and independence are fundamental values for the life as well as mobility. For people such as senior citizens, public transport needs to be accessible and affordable in order to provide them with the opportunity to fulfil their medical, shopping and recreational needs. Providing access to transport for people with age 65 & over is not a marginal problem and it is expected to grow in the future. The most important concern in accessibility is the relatively short distance and high frequency movements from a permanent home. This study will identify the travel pattern & mode for elderly commuters in greater Melbourne, Australia. The study will also suggest strategies to improve the use of public transport system to promote ageing in place.

Elderly Sustainable Mobility: Scientific Paper Review

“…The elderly population and time-based index [71][72][73] A recent study introduced elderly time-based accessibility.…”

Understanding Travel Behavior and Sustainability of Current Transportation System for Older Adults in Malaysia: A Scoping Review

“…The study also found that the likelihood of the motorcyclists to choose bus riding increase by 85.4% if the trip duration by bus reduces [14]. A comparable situation has been seen in a few other nations such as Japan [2] and Australia [19], albeit mostly in rural regions. These accessibility and reliability difficulties should be addressed in accord with promoting active ageing and more sustainable transport use among the older adults [20].…”

Development of a Public Transport Accessibility Index for Older Commuters: A Time-Based Approach

“…However, education and recreation centres have better coverage in all Melbourne SA1s (Figures 3-5). A substantial portion (8%) of the total travel of the elderly involves education escort, specifically for primary school children [50,52]. As primary schools are zoned, children are most likely to attend primary school in the area where they live.…”

“…According to VISTA [50], older people mostly travel to four main categories of POIs: (1) shopping centres, (2) healthcare centres, (3) education centres, and (4) recreational centres [52]. Hence, these four most-travelled POI categories by the elderly were considered for the calculation of the index in this study.…”