Socio-demographic and built environment determinants of car use among older adults in Iran

Abstract

Internationally, an age-friendly built environment, including safe, affordable, and convenient transportation, has been identified as crucial in enhancing the quality of life for increasingly large numbers of elderly people. This study presents data on the urban travel and mobility patterns of older adults in Shiraz, Iran -a country where the population is ageing faster than the average of western societies. The relationship between car use and sociodemographic and built environment variables is investigated through Ordinary Least Squares and Geographically Weighted Regression models. These models show that the main determinants of car use among older adults are: employment status; household size; car ownership rate; trip purpose; property prices; and mixed land-uses. Also, the study reveals that car dependency is significant and more pronounced among wealthier individuals, who tend to be clustered in the northern section of the city. The population density and road network design characteristics do not affect car use among older adults, while a mix of land-uses tends to attenuate car dependency. Gender gaps in car use are much wider than in the West, and some level of spatial mismatch between travel needs and car access is observed in the southern section of the city. Clearly, Iranian cities must move away from the current car-centric development model.

Linking Local Government and Demographics to Ecological Footprint

“…This finding is in line with the findings of Iris et al, (2018) was recorded that the proportion of female who do not eat meat, fish, dairy products or eggs, or rarely eat these food stuffs and chose the EF-products is profoundly higher than the men [10]. Other than that, in terms of gender, male are more dependent on cars whereas female employ a broader variety of transportation modes [11].…”

Older People, Mobility and Transport in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Review of the Research

“…Research in urban settings in Pakistan, Iran and Malaysia all found that age and gender, together with other factors, such as car ownership, travel time, travel cost, household size and income, were significant factors in influencing individual choices in transportation. These studies all included higher-income households, and demonstrated the importance of car ownership in travel frequency, though even here gender played an important role, with older men making significantly more journeys than older women [14,54,55]. Other evidence points to the limitations in "choice" that older women in particular may have; a study of a urban setting in Nigeria found that gender, along with increasing age, education and monthly income, were significant in determining walking as the mode choice, in a situation where over 70% of older people lacked access to motorised transport [56].…”

Factors influencing the acceptance and use of a bicycle sharing system: Applying an extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT)

“…Recently, the transport sector has played an important role in increasing CO 2 emissions in Iran. There has been a considerable rising trend of reliance on cars coupled with a very high rate of private car use which has resulted in congestion in the Iranian cities such as Tehran, Mashhad, Isfahan, and Tabriz (Soltani et al, 2018).…”