Alexandra Millonig AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, Mobility Department Integrated Public Transport Services Current Situation and Trends - Ageing of Society

Older people & mobility

Older people… who are they? „Old people have limited regenerative abilities and are more prone to disease, syndromes, and sickness than younger adults. […] The boundary between middle age and old age cannot be defined exactly because it does not have the same meaning in all societies. People can be considered old because of certain changes in their activities or social roles. Examples: people may be considered old when they become grandparents, or when they begin to do less or different work – retirement.“ [Wikipedia]

Older people… what is „old“? Older people… … have difficulties to learn something new? © 2012 UCT Summer School,

Older people… what is „old“? Older people… … are less active? © 2012 Viola Ng,

Older people… what is „old“? Older people… … are afraid of falling? © 2012 UCT Jan Messersmith,

Older people & mobility

Factors influencing older people‘s mobility Transport facilities Financial situation Lifestyle Skills Health Training … … Social network Accessibility Assistive technologies

Growing Older, stAying mobiLe: Transport needs for an aging society

GOAL Profiles of Older People the Care-Full Hole in the Heart Happily Connected Fit as a Fiddle ACTIVITY LEVEL / HEALTH low high AGE An Oldie but a Goodie

4 A’s of public transport need for older people [DfT 2010; pteg 2010] Accessibility Affordability Acceptability Availability

Profile-related public transport issues FF HH HC OG CF - Health- related -XX -X-XX ----X Safety XX-X- Driver attitude -X-X- Information -X-X- Transition support XXX--

The Action Plan Transport needs and research gaps:  Driving (action 1-3)  Public transport (action 4 and 5)  Walking and cycling (action 6-8)  Travel information (action 9 and 10)

Action 4: Methodology to assess the benefits of public transport accessibility measures  There is a lack of a holistic view of entire trips made by older people, where a single small factor may lead to an unacceptable outcome. Impact  Improved accessibility to public transport will improve the quality of life of older people.  Environmental benefits as bus patronage will be likely to increase.

Action 5: Understand the transition from car to public transport  Transition from using your car for most trips to using public transport can be a negative life event.  An early and positive approach to such a change could lead to a more satisfactory outcome in terms of both personal lifestyle, reduced accident risk and more sustainable transport.  Research is needed to understand the circumstances of change which may trigger full or partial transitions from car to public transport. Impact:  More sustainable mode of travel by the older people.  Longer mobility for older people.

Action 9: Make travel information suitable for the older people  Door-to-door consideration will be necessary because a single unacceptable element may make the whole journey unacceptable  Research will identify the information requirements for travellers with a range of physical and mental handicaps.. Impact:  An understanding of the requirements of travel information systems/services suitable for older people.  An assessment of the extent to which such systems/services could encourage more travel.

Action 10: Use social media to support travel by older people  The increasing use and access to a wide variety of social media may be able to support older people in a journey.  Research will identify the range of current and developing social media systems and services which may be used to support older travellers. Impact:  The development of social network activities to remove the real and apparent risks associated with the travel of older people.  Increased usage of social media by older people by removing barriers e.g. fear and mistrust of technology.

Alexandra Millonig AIT Austrian Institute of Technology Mobility Department Dynamic Transportation Systems