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Mobility for
the Aging Population
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As people age, isolation becomes a growing problem, and access
and mobility become increasingly critical needs. For older Americans,
affordable, reliable transportation options are essential. Public
transportation in various forms provides:
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The ability to live independently
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Access to medical and social services
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Contact with the outside world
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The feeling of belonging to the community
America’s aging population is growing at a faster
rate than any other U.S. population group, and public transportation
systems must continue to be expanded and enhanced to meet this
group’s needs. Through the commitment of more transportation dollars
to public transit systems, the U.S. will be better able to keep
pace with the mobility needs of older persons.
Meeting the most basic needs of America’s older
individuals requires enhanced mobility. And the car is not the
only travel option. There is a growing recognition of the broad-ranging
benefits of public transportation for older Americans, including:
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Greater freedom to live in a variety of settings
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More mobility as a result of more travel choices
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Greater access to varied destinations
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Enhanced opportunities to lead a full and meaningful life
Our national transportation policy can address
more comprehensively and more effectively the needs of aging Americans
through reauthorization of the Transportation Equity Act for the
21st Century (TEA 21). Reauthorization is the best way to assure
that public transportation is adequately funded, more widely available,
more accessible and more fully integrated with community-based
and human-service transportation services.
The Demographics
Statistics on the aging of America are dramatic:
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Today, more than 35 million Americans are 65 or older; 4.2
million are 85 or older.(1)
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By 2010, the numbers will rise in both age groups, with the
most striking increase in the 85+ age group, which will expand
over 30 percent to 5.8 million.(2)
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As America’s "baby-boomers" age, the over-65 age group will
grow at a rate nearly four times faster than the population
as a whole in the two decades from 2010 to 2030.(3)
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By 2030 one out of five people in the U.S. will be age 65
or older. (4)
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More older people now live in suburban settings that lack
transit options.(5)
| Through reauthorization of the Transportation
Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA 21), our national transportation
policy can address more comprehensively and effectively
the needs of America’s aging population. Reauthorization
provides an immediate opportunity to address these needs
by assuring that public transportation is adequately funded,
more widely available, more accessible, and more fully integrated
with community-based and human-service transportation services. |
Figure 1
Growth Rate of America’s Aging Population
Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Projections
of the Total Resident Population by 5 Year Age Groups and Sex,
with Special Age Categories, Middle Series 1999- 2100 (NP-T3),
www.census.gov/population/www/projections/natsum.html
A Quality of Life Issue
For America’s aging population, isolation is
a growing problem that severely affects this group’s ability to
take care of basic needs and function as contributing members
of society. And studies show that, as people grow older, isolation—in
the form of lack of transportation access and mobility—becomes
increasingly acute.
Medical progress has enabled people to live longer,
enjoying more years of health and activity. However, this growing
population also includes an increasing number of people, particularly
among those over 85, with widely varying health and medical conditions
that preclude driving and dramatically reduce mobility.
A 2002 AARP study found that:
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Compared to people ages 50 to 74, nearly four times as many
people over 85 (41% vs. 12%) had not left home the previous
day.(6)
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The percentage of those 85 and over who do not leave their
homes at all is three times greater than in the 80-to-84 age
group.(7)
Studies also demonstrate a growing dependency
on transportation assistance among older individuals. Sixty percent
of older Americans expect to depend on rides from friends and
family when they can no longer drive.(8)
Lack of options and mobility can contribute to isolation.
Signs of Progress
Both large public transportation agencies and
smaller nonprofit providers are taking steps to improve transportation
options for the aging population. Many public transportation agencies
are expanding services in exciting new ways, putting programs
and enhancements in place to make public transportation more available
and user friendly for older individuals throughout the day.
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Phoenix, AZ. With a goal of 100 percent
replacement, the Valley Metro System has replaced 80 percent
of its entire bus fleet with low-floor vehicles to ease access
for older persons. In addition, the system is introducing
state-of-the-art information technologies that automatically
announce bus stops for riders and identify the route of the
bus for waiting passengers. The system is also introducing
neighborhood circulator services using small vehicles to allow
older users to travel safely between home and busy activity
centers and major street and highway corridors.
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Charlotte, NC. Charlotte Transit is
undertaking development of a database of bus stop features
that will identify elements needing improvement and allow
a new tripplanning system to show photographs of stops to
riders. In addition, through the Elderly General Purchase
Transportation Program, the agency, in cooperation with the
Department of Social Services, funds subsidized vouchers for
use on local taxis for aging residents who neither live near
a bus route nor are eligible for transportation assistance
through human service programs.
In addition to these breakthroughs, over 5,200
public and private non-profit providers, nationwide, now offer
demandresponsive "paratransit" service to a wide range of clients
requiring transportation to human and social services.
Figure 2
Elderly Place of Residence, 2000
“Aging in place” has meant that more elderly
are living in suburban settings where new transit options must
be found.
Source: Testimony of Ms. Lavada DeSalles,
AARP Board Member, before the U.S. Senate Housing and Transportation
Subcommittee, Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs,
July 17, 2002.
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Tompkins County, NY. Gadabout Transportation
Services Inc., a non-profit agency, provides transportation
services for people age 60+. While Gadabout depends on 45
volunteers for operation, it also pays 11 drivers for transportation
services. In 1999, Gadabout provided 49,000 one-way rides
on 20 buses.
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Loudoun County, VA. The county, whose
aging population experienced an 86% increase between 1990
and 2000, funds four major transportation programs in addition
to the service provided by two public providers. Human-service
transportation programs, operated by two county departments,
include both fixed-route and demand-responsive service, provided
through contracts with 6 private taxi-type providers operating
approximately 550 trips per day in sedans, station wagons
and vans.
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Des Moines, IA. The MTA has introduced
a special "On-Call" service to assist aging residents within
suburban Johnston—the fastest growing Des Moines-area suburb,
with a large concentration of elderly housing—in making trips
between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Those wishing rides call roaming
On-Call bus drivers directly. In the Urbandale area, similar
On-Call service is provided for seniors during rush hour to
park-and-ride lots and express bus services. On-Call services
promote a direct relationship between customers and drivers,
who are encouraged through pay incentives to better serve
customers and increase ridership.
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Rhode Island. The Rhode Island Public
Transit Authority’s (RIPTA) nationally recognized paratransit
service—The Ride Program—is coordinated with other specialized
human and social services transportation across the state,
allowing integration of multiple federal and state funding
streams, reduced duplication of service, enhanced productivity
and maximum service delivery.
Other communities are organizing grass-roots
transportation services for seniors. A 2001 Beverly Foundation/AAA
Foundation for Traffic Safety study identified 370 transit programs
in rural, urban and suburban areas across the country that are
oriented toward helping older persons access medical services,
shopping areas, and many recreational and everyday activities
that would otherwise be out of reach. (9)
Need for a Broader Commitment to Ongoing Innovation
While these programs represent exciting breakthroughs,
continuing innovations in transit services for aging Americans
requires expanded investment and support on a number of fronts.
System design. Traditional public transportation
systems must continue to be enhanced and designed to make everyday
services more easily available. More older adults, as well as
young mothers, children and people with disabilities, could access
transit vehicles if more systems implemented designs that are
now available, such as:
Community design. Transit investment must
include improvements in community design to increase ease of access
to all transportation alternatives and community services. For
example, about one in five non-drivers among the aging population
could access regular fixed-route bus services if better sidewalks
and resting places were provided.
Advanced technologies. Increased emphasis
must be placed on state-of-the-art information systems to improve
information about alternative services and take the anxiety and
uncertainty out of trip planning and transit use. Examples include:
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Web-based trip-planning systems, such as
The RideGuide system in Washington, D.C., that link route,
schedule and fare information for multiple transit systems
across metropolitan areas
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State-of-the-art electronic fare systems
and multi-trip ticketing, such as stored-value "Smartcards,"
that ease and speed the boarding process, taking the guesswork
out of paying fares and ultimately allowing riders to use
a single electronic ticket on a variety of regional transportation
services
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Real-time vehicle arrival and departure information
at transit stops, such as systems in Washington, DC and Salt
Lake City rail stations, to reduce rider uncertainty about
schedules and conditions on the system
Coordination of services. Coordination
of services and joint investment between transit providers and
other human service and community service programs must be encouraged
and rewarded, not frustrated or discouraged. For example, in North
Carolina service coordination is carried out across each of the
state’s 100 counties by partnering at the county level in the
delivery of small urban and rural transit services through jointly
developed plans.
An Achievable Goal
While transit agency and community programs are
demonstrating that innovation and determination can stretch limited
transit dollars and help make public transportation user friendly
to older people, more must be done. What’s needed is forward thinking
and coordination that allows municipalities to accommodate the
needs of the aging population into the designs of their transit
systems and their communities — and the funding to follow through
on their ideas.
TEA 21 is critical to this effort. In the months
ahead, local, state and national elected officials will have a
unique opportunity to expand the reach and quality of public transportation
for older Americans through the reauthorization of this legislation.
For more information on how to communicate the
extraordinary value of transit for America’s aging population,
contact your:
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Local transit systems
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Local human service agencies
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State transit associations
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The American Public Transportation Association
Works Cited
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U.S. Bureau of the Census, Projections
of the Total Resident Population by 5 Year Age Groups and
Sex, with Special Age Categories, Middle Series 1999-2100
(NP-T3), www.census.gov/population/www/projections/natsum.html
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Projections of the Total Resident
Population by 5 Year Age Groups and Sex, with Special Age
Categories, Middle Series 1999-2100 (NP-T3)
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Projections of the Total Resident
Population by 5 Year Age Groups and Sex, with Special Age
Categories, Middle Series 1999-2100 (NP-T3)
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Projections of the Total Resident
Population by 5 Year Age Groups and Sex, with Special Age
Categories, Middle Series 1999-2100 (NP-T3)
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Testimony of Lavada DeSalles, Member
AARP Board of Directors, before U.S. Senate, Housing and Transportation
Subcommittee, Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs,
July 17, 2002, Washington, DC
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AARP Public Policy Institute, Understanding
Senior Transportation: Report and Analysis of a Survey of
Consumers Age 50+, p. 19, 2002, Washington, DC
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AARP Public Policy Institute, Understanding
Senior Transportation: Report and Analysis of a Survey of
Consumers Age 50+, p. 22, 2002, Washington, DC
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AARP Public Policy Institute, Community
Transportation Survey, p. 15, 1997, Washington, DC
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The Beverly Foundation, Supplemental
Transportation Programs for Seniors, Prepared for the AAA
Foundation on Traffic Safety, June 2001, Washington, DC
Other Sources
Valley Metro System, Phoenix, AZ, Interview with senior staff
Charlotte Transit, Charlotte, NC, Interview with senior staff
Loudoun Co., VA, Interviews with senior staff
MTA, Des Moines, IA, Interview with General Manager
Rhode Island Public Transit Authority, Interview with General
Manager
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