The reflection of the fear of falls and risk of falling in walking activity spaces of older adults in various urban environments

Participation of older adults in daily activities has a major positive impact on health and contributes to a sense of accomplishment, satisfaction, self-efficacy, and well-being. Walking is considered to be one of the most influential activities promoting health and active living. Older adults are particularly vulnerable to their immediate local environment where age- related declined capabilities combined with barriers in the home neighborhood pose a risk of falling and fear of falls. Most research focusing on the built environment role in incidents of older adults' outdoor falls and fear of falls is focused on identifying the environmental features' risk factors. Effort is made to develop audit checklist tools to assess out-door falls risk. In contrast, this study focuses on the manifestation of fear of falls in older adults' walking activity spaces. We identify spatial walking patterns of outdoor daily activities in public urban spaces and examine the relations between fear of falls, risk of falling status, previous occurrence of fall incidents and number of medical diagnoses and walking activity spaces among older adults in different urban environments.The analysis included 271 older adults (age 60+ with 70% females and 30% males), and 483 walking routes in three cities. A psychological measure related to mobility self-efficacy was evaluated by the Falls Efficacy Scale examining the fear of falling through a functional perspective. Motor evaluation was conducted by functional mobility evaluation through the Timed Up and Go (TUG) screening test which assesses the level of risk of falling. GIS analysis was conducted for mapping and identifying walking activity spaces. The analysis shows different walking activity spaces of people with high risk of falling and fear of falls in comparison to those with no risk and no fear of falling across gender and age groups (60–65, 66–74, and 75+). In this approach we show the outcome reflection of barriers and enablers and their revealed cumulative effect through walking activity spaces among older adults.     

‘Mobility work’: Older adults' experiences using public transportation

This paper contributes to research on public transport accessibility, disabling spaces, and older adult's mobility by highlighting the ‘mobility work’ older adults complete to meet their daily travel needs. Drawing on a systematic and inductive analysis of semi-structured interviews with older adult (65+ years of age) public transit users in Hamilton, Canada, we argue that older adults are faced with mobility work that younger and/or more able-bodied people do not routinely encounter as they meet (or attempt to meet) their daily travel needs using public transportation. Key components of older adults' trips that involve mobility work include walking to and from the bus stop, trip planning, stepping onto/ off of the bus, finding a seat, carrying items on the bus, calling a stop, and travelling in winter conditions. This mobility work can be categorized as physical (e.g., struggling to board the bus), emotional (e.g., worrying about getting a seat), or spatiotemporal (e.g., staying home when the weather is bad). Taken together, this paper puts forward a multidimensional concept of ‘mobility work’ to aid in considering accessibility at the scale of both the individual and the built environment. Further, by highlighting mobility work, this paper demonstrates the ways in which public transport spaces can be disabling for aging bodies and outlines concrete measures public transit agencies can take to make services more accessible to older adult riders.     

Between relaxation and excitement: activities and benefits gained in retirees' tourism

While most studies that focused on older adults' tourism behaviour have used quantitative methods, most studies that focused on benefits that older adults gain from tourism have used qualitative methods. Thus, the associations between seniors' tourism behaviour and its results, namely, the benefits gained, were never explored. This study aimed to examine these associations. The study was based on a national mail survey of 298 Israeli retirees, who travelled abroad at least once in the year prior to the survey. Results indicated that there are nine factors of destination activities and five factors of benefits gained, which are intricately interrelated. In addition, four differentiated sub‐segments were identified based on their destination activities, but the differences between them in terms of benefits gained were rather minor. These findings suggest a balance mechanism in older adults' tourism that leads to maximization of benefits in different activities and/or circumstances. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Trip making of older adults in Seoul: Differences in effects of personal and household characteristics by age group and trip purpose

Korea is experiencing a rapid increase in the number and proportion of the older population aged 65 and older. This study investigated personal and household characteristics affecting trip making of older adults (65 years and older) using data from the 2010 Household Travel Survey in Seoul. It was tested if the effects of characteristics were the same for the 65+ and the under 65 groups, and if the effects for older adults were the same for the 65–74 and the 75+ groups. Trips were also classified into mandatory and discretionary trips and models estimated for the 65+ group for those two trip purposes. The investigation was done with a heteroskedastic ordered logit model to account for age differences in unobserved variance.The analysis showed that the effects of personal and household characteristics on trip making varied significantly between the under 65 and 65+ groups, and between those 65–74 and those 75+. This further confirms the risk of viewing all older adults as similar to each other or to younger individuals. The study found heteroskedasticity due to age for the youngest (under 41) and the oldest (75+) groups but not for those 41–64-years-old.Specific results showed that men 65 or older have a lower probability of making more trips than women, especially mandatory trips, suggesting transportation policy needs to consider the genders differently. Having a driver's license and an automobile was linked to more trips for those 65–74 and for mandatory trips but not for those 75+ and not for discretionary trips of those 65+. Higher income was linked to more trips for older adults, especially mandatory trips.The results show the development of transport policies needs to consider the variance among the aged, such as gender, income, driving licensure and automobile ownership.     

Shared autonomous vehicles and their potential impacts on household vehicle ownership: An exploratory empirical assessment

Emerging transportation technologies have the potential to significantly reshape the transportation systems and household vehicle ownership. Key among these transportation technologies are the autonomous vehicles, particularly when introduced in shared vehicle fleets. In this paper, we focus on the potential impact that fleets of shared autonomous vehicles might have on household vehicle ownership. To obtain initial insights into this issue, we asked a sample of university personnel and members of the American Automobile Association as to how likely they would consider relinquishing one of their household's personal vehicles if shared autonomous vehicles were available (thus reducing their household vehicle ownership level by one). For single-vehicle households, this would be relinquishing their only vehicle, and for multivehicle households (households owning two or more vehicles) this would be relinquishing just one of their vehicles. Possible responses to the question about relinquishing a household vehicle if shared autonomous vehicles are present are: extremely unlikely, unlikely, unsure, likely, and extremely likely. To determine the factors that influence this response, random parameters ordered probit models are estimated to account for the likelihood that considerable unobserved heterogeneity is likely to be present in the data. The findings show that a wide range of socioeconomic factors affects people's likelihood of vehicle relinquishment in the presence of shared autonomous vehicles. Key among these are gender effects, generational elements, commuting patterns, and respondents' vehicle crash history and experiences. While people's opinions of shared autonomous vehicles are evolving with the continual introduction of new autonomous vehicle technologies and shifting travel behavior, the results of this study provide important initial insights into the likely effects of shared autonomous vehicles on household vehicle ownership.     

To drive or not to drive: Driving cessation amongst older adults in rural and small towns in Canada

Driving cessation, often due to health-related changes, can be a particularly challenging and troublesome transition in older adulthood that can lead to social isolation. While policy makers have long recognized the potential impact of an aging population on Canada's health care and national pension plans, the transportation needs of older adults have received relatively less attention. For older adults residing in small towns and rural areas who rely, more often than not, on the personal automobile there is usually limited or no access to public transportation. For policy makers to respond effectively to the transportation needs of an aging population, particularly those living in rural areas, the first step is to understand the travel behaviours of older adults living in such areas, particularly as they approach the transition when they will cease to drive. This paper reports on qualitative research exploring the driving-related challenges and needs faced by older adults in small towns and rural areas near Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Results revealed four major themes: lack of transportation options in rural areas, changes in driving behaviours, the lack of planning for driving cessation, and the social isolation that comes from the loss (or potential loss) of one's driver's license.     

Do rural older adults take fewer trips than their urban counterparts for lack of a ride?

Aging and the presence of one or more illnesses result in limited travel for many adults age 65 and over. Yet, the need to get to essential, social, and non-emergency medical destinations endures. At some point in their life, older adults become dependent on family/friends, or rely on for-profit/not-for-profit transportation services for their mobility needs, while some do not go on certain trips. Researchers have studied out-of-home activity and mobility of older adults using data on trips taken. There is a gap, however, in understanding trips not taken in the older adult population in rural versus urban locations. Our objectives in this paper are: (i) to investigate unmet travel needs of older adults by relying on responses for trips not taken; (ii) to examine how personal abilities, living situation, and socio-demographic factors are associated with trips not taken to various destinations; and (iii) to compare the likelihood of trips not taken due to lack of a ride in urban versus rural locations across the age and income spectrum. Our data come from a phone survey conducted across the province of Alberta, Canada, in 2017–18 (n = 1390). We specify ordinal logistic models where the dependent variable is how often a respondent did not undertake a trip due to not having a ride to various trip destinations. We find that rural seniors are more likely to not take trips compared to older adults in cities, holding all else equal including driving cessation, worsening health, and disability. Rural seniors who live alone or in low-density housing are also more likely to not take trips compared to urban older adults. Household income, however, tempers these location preferences. Our findings suggest that rural older adults can be supported through income transfers, community-based low-cost travel, and moving to higher-density residential locations.     

Demand for electric vehicles in hybrid households: an exploratory analysis

Previous studies of the potential market for battery electric vehicles (BEVs) from different research streams have failed to converge on a single, robust estimate. What these previous research streams share are untested or implausible assumptions about consumer response to new transportation technology. We frame the BEV purchase decision in terms of a household's entire stock of vehicles, car purchase behavior and travel behavior. Within this framework, households which own both electric vehicles and gasoline vehicles are called ‘hybrid households’. Because nearly all consumers are unfamiliar with the characteristics of BEVs, we designed an interactive interview based on week-long travel diaries, which we call Purchase Intentions and Range Estimation Games (PIREG) to explore hypothetical hybrid household vehicle use. Our primary finding is that consumers' perceived driving range needs are substantially lower than previous hypothetical stated preference studies conclude. We find evidence of a viable market for BEVs with 60 to 100 miles driving range.     

The impact of driving status on out-of-home and social activity engagement among older Canadians

The loss of a driver's license can significantly limit a person's ability to engage in desired activities outside their home, which may, in turn, jeopardize their independence, well-being, and quality of life. This research seeks to quantify the impacts of driving status on out-of-home and social activity engagement among non-working older (≥ 65 years) Canadians, and the distribution of these impacts across socio-demographic and self-reported health domains. Nationally representative cross-sectional time diary data were used to measure the participation rates and daily durations of out-of-home and social activity engagement among non-working older Canadians who have a driver's license (i.e., drivers) and those who did not (i.e., non-drivers). Results indicate drivers were, on average, more than twice as likely to participate in out-of-home and social activities compared to non-drivers. However, the mean durations of activity engagement, among the participant sub-sample, appear largely invariant to driving status. Among the socio-demographic and self-reported health factors affecting out-of-home and social activity engagement, geography appears the most influential for participation rates and durations, particularly for non-drivers who live in small towns and rural areas. Due to demographic trends that suggest an increasing number of older Canadians will be unable to drive, communities should expect a commensurate increase in demand for alternate mobility options, which will inevitably require a variety of context-specific accessibility strategies.     

Latent heterogeneity in autonomous driving preferences and in-vehicle activities by travel distance

Autonomous driving technologies (ADTs) are transformative because they are expected to assume the task of driving. Since travel distance is closely related to the burden of driving, it is expected to affect the ADT preference; however, this effect has not been investigated in the transportation literature. Therefore, this study is designed to investigate the ADT preference and heterogeneity with respect to different travel distances. Hypothetical choice situations were designed to investigate people's ADT preferences over human driving for varying travel distances. Using the stated preference data collected via the experiments, four latent class models were estimated for heterogeneity across classes and travel distances. The estimation results show that three classes, we labeled as competitive, autonomous vehicle oriented, human-driven vehicle oriented, are revealed by the ADT preference, regardless of the travel distance. In addition, in-vehicle activities in hypothetical autonomous driving situations were observed across all the classes and travel distances.     

An analysis of per mile pollution fees for motor vehicles in California''s south coast

This paper examines the effect of pollution fees based on per mile emissions of reactive organic gases and oxides of nitrogen on tons of pollutants emitted, driving, fuel use and efficiency, new vehicle sales, and welfare in the South Coast region of California. The results suggest that VMT and gasoline demand would be reduced (although at a declining rate) while mpg would improve as households shifted to newer vehicles. Sales of new vehicles are projected to initially rise, then drop below base forecast levels as turnover of vehicles is reduced. Finally, the projected effects on household consumer surplus suggest that pollution fees may be regressive (although less so as households adjust their vehicle holdings), as a significant portion of older, higher polluting vehicles are owned by lower income households. The paper also compares pollution fees with voluntary accelerated vehicle retirement programs.     

The safe mobility of older drivers: a challenge for urban road designers

For many older adults in most of the Western world, continued mobility (with associated health, well-being, independence and quality of life) means access to a private vehicle, either as a driver or as a passenger. However older driver serious injury and fatality rates per distance travelled are higher than middle-aged drivers, and crash and injury rates are likely to increase in the coming decades as a result of the ageing population, increased car ownership and overall travel amongst older people. Evidence suggests that contributory factors to this high risk are (for most) frailty, (for some) the high proportion of driving in urban areas, and (for a few) reduced fitness to drive as a result of medical conditions and associated functional limitations. Australasia has recently adopted the ‘Safe System’ approach which aims to manage vehicles, the road infrastructure, speeds, and the interactions between these components, to ensure that when crashes do occur, crash energies will remain at levels that minimize the probability of death and serious injury. A system which aspires to achieving Safe System objectives cannot ignore the challenges that older road users pose – and will pose – to the transport system. This paper discusses the so-called ‘older driver problem’, presents crash data and evidence of the impacts of driving location and reduced fitness to drive on crash risk, and recommends countermeasures within the ‘Safe System’ context, with particular reference to urban road design and operation.     

Regional disparity analysis of Chinese freight transport CO2 emissions from 1990 to 2007: Driving forces and policy challenges

Freight transportation and logistics act as the artery of the national economy. With a booming economy, China's freight transport sector has experienced dramatic growth in recent decades and has become a key driving force of China's CO₂ emissions. Therefore, effective and efficient mitigation policies in the freight transport sector are critical for China to promote CO₂ emission mitigation strategies. In contrast to other countries, China's challenge stems not only from technical issues but also from regional socioeconomic disparities, which in turn require the implementation of locally oriented policies. For this reason, an analysis based on regional disparity is of vital importance for future policy making. However, to date, there have been few pertinent studies on the freight transportation sector. To fill this gap, this paper aims to conduct an in-depth comparative study of CO₂ emission characteristics and the driving forces in the freight transport sector in China's three regions (covering 31 provinces) from 1990 to 2007. The log mean Divisia index method (LMDI) is employed to analyse the driving forces, and the Gini coefficient is used to investigate regional inequity. Additionally, regional disparity is explored in-depth based on the analytical results and practical concerns. The results highlight that economic structure is a key driving force for emissions change and reveal significant regional disparity and inequity in freight transport emissions. The results are critical for future policy-making to address regional concerns.     

A threshold covering flow-based location model to build a critical mass of alternative-fuel stations

To facilitate the transition to alternative-fuel vehicles (AFVs), researchers have developed models for optimally locating an initial refueling infrastructure for AFVs with limited driving range. Recently, clustering of stations has emerged as a strategy to encourage consumers to purchase AFVs by building a critical mass of stations. Clustering approaches, however, have focused on serving demands represented as nodes or arcs rather than origin-destination (O-D) trips. This study proposes a Threshold Coverage extension to the original Flow Refueling Location Model that focuses on the percentage of a zone's O-D trips that can be successfully completed given a typical driving range and location of stations. It is motivated by the idea that drivers in an area will not purchase an AFV unless a critical mass of the trips they regularly make can be completed. Therefore, the new model optimally locates p refueling stations on a network to maximize the sum of weighted demand of covered origin zones, where “covered” means that the zone exceeds a specified threshold percentage of their total outbound round trips that are refuelable. The model is tested on networks for Orlando and the state of Florida. As the threshold percentage is raised, fewer zones can surpass the threshold. Covered nodes increasingly cluster together, as do stations for serving their O-D flows. The model's policy implementation will provide managerial insights for some key concerns of the industry, such as geographic equity vs. critical mass, from a new perspective.     

Factors of electric vehicle adoption: A comparison of conventional and electric car users based on an extended theory of planned behavior

Increasing the share of battery electric vehicles (BEV) in the total car fleet is regarded as a promising way to reduce local car emissions. Based on online surveys in Denmark and Sweden, this study compares BEV users' (n = 673) and conventional vehicle (CV) users' (n = 1794) socio-demographic profiles, attitudinal profiles, and mobility patterns. In line with previous research, BEV users are typically male, highly educated, have high incomes, and often more than one car in their household. Additionally, BEV users perceive less functional barriers toward BEV use and have more positive attitudes and norms than CV users. The different profiles of these user groups suggest a separate analysis of potential factors of BEV adoption in both groups. In regression analyses, CV and BEV users' intention to use/purchase a BEV is modeled based on factors of the Theory of Planned Behavior extended by personal norm, perceived mobility necessities, and BEV experience. For CV users, symbolic attitudes related to BEVs are the most important factor of intention, while perceived functional barriers in terms of driving range are most relevant for BEV users' intention. How BEV users cope with trips of longer distance seems of particular relevance. In multiple car households, we found the percentage of actual BEV usage related to the type of other cars in the household, perceived functional barriers of BEVs as well as (successful) behavioral adaption to longer trips by BEVs. Based on the results, we discuss ways to increase BEV adoption for current users and non-users.     

Interrelationships between influential factors and behavioral intention with regard to autonomous vehicles

Soon enough, autonomous driving systems may not need drivers at all. Ideally, a passenger can ride an autonomous vehicle (AUV) from one location to another without (either partial or complete) human intervention, inherently removing aberrant human driving behavior from the equation, requiring no or only a few parking spaces near a passenger’s destination, and possessing environmental advantages over traditional vehicles powered by internal combustion engines. The current study aims to investigate the interrelationships between influential factors and behavioral intention with regard to AUVs. The research was implemented with: (1) partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to examine path relationships, (2) partial least squares multi-group analysis (PLS-MGA) to elaborate observed heterogeneity, and (3) partial least squares prediction orientation segmentation (PLS-POS) to study unobserved heterogeneity. The empirical results showed significant direct effects for Hypotheses H1-a?～?H1-c (Attitude, Subjective norm, and Perceived Behavior Control on Behavior Intention) and for Hypothesis H3-a (Personal Innovativeness on Behavior Intention). Additionally, the results showed that observed heterogeneity does not exist by gender, and by city, and that unobserved heterogeneity can be best identified and divided into two segments by employing PLS-POS. A few final remarks concern the research findings and preparing for future AUV transportation.     

How adult children in the UK and the US view the driving cessation of their parents: Is a policy window opening?

Both the UK and the US have rapidly ageing and increasingly diverse populations very dependent on driving. A comparative study commissioned by the UK Department for Transport found that in both the UK and the US adult children of older drivers, whilst often concerned about their parents’ continued driving, were also worried about the burden they would carry when their parents stopped driving, although there were differences by race and ethnicity. This study suggests that a policy window may be opening through which babyboomers can advocate for a range of driver training, roadway and vehicle improvements, expansion and enhancement of traditional public transportation and community transport options, improvements in accessibility and pedestrian infrastructure, and supportive land use and housing policies that would allow older people to drive safely longer, and, find meaningful mobility options when they can no longer drive. Policy responses must recognise and respond appropriately to differences by race and ethnicity.