Conditions and Performance Chapter Listing

Conditions and Performance Home Page

Introduction

Summary

Measuring Mobility

The Role of Income

Role of Age

Role of Gender

Role of Race and Hispanic Status

Role of Age

Mobility can help cure isolation. All the disadvantaged groups experience a multifaceted isolation from American life. But this isolation is most severe, debilitating, and progressive for senior citizens. As the proportion of Americans who are elderly begins to increase, and as expected medical advances improve longevity and continue capabilities, the senior population is expected to make new demands on the transportation infrastructure. They will prolong their involvement in the mainstream of society and, what is more, they will have the economic power and votes to enforce accommodation in the infrastructure.

The American society is aging rapidly. The median age of America's population rose from 28 to 34 between 1970 and 1995. One reason for this increase is the proportion of those age 75 and older is increasing. By 2030 the proportion of the population over the age of 75 is projected to rise from 6 percent to 9 percent. The fastest growing segment of the elderly, the population aged 85 and over is expected to double (to 7 million) by 2020.

Different mobility issues face the elderly because they typically drive less, have lower incomes, have health problems and may require special services and facilities. The majority of older people age in the places they lived while working. Increasingly these are suburban or rural communities where it is difficult to access services or facilities without a car, and where it has generally been difficult to provide transit services.

Exhibit 1-6 shows how annual miles driven decreases as age increases. It also shows annual miles driven by the elderly has steadily increased since 1969, which correlates with the growing number of elderly with driver's licenses. According to 1995 NPTS data, 55 percent of women and 84 percent of men aged 75 and over have licenses. More importantly, almost 100 percent of men and 90 percent of women who will be over the age of 70 in 2012 are currently licensed drivers. As a result we can expect the elderly will be driving more in the future than at present.

Exhibit 1-6

Average Annual Miles by Driver Age, 1969-1995

The expected increases in driving by the elderly pose some serious highway safety issues. Currently, the elderly are second only to teens in their crash involvement rate and have the highest fatality rate of any group on the road. An increasingly mobile elderly population will be sharing the road with non-elderly drivers who may be more aggressive in their driving. Intelligent transportation systems technology may offer some solutions to making this mix of drivers work.

Finally, the cultural composition of the elderly is changing. In 1995, approximately 87 percent of the elderly were White. By the middle of the next century, the Census Bureau predicts that 20 percent of older Americans will be African-American and 19 percent will be of races other than African-American or White. Over 15 percent will be of Hispanic origin. Currently, African-Americans and Hispanics travel less than Whites. As the older population becomes more diverse, will the trend toward increased travel by the elderly continue to hold?

Meeting the mobility needs of the elderly is especially complicated because many may not be able to drive. A 1990 study found that almost one in five men and one in three women older than age 75 required assistance to conduct some of their daily activities, such as bathing, dressing or eating. Between 80 and 90 percent of this kind of personal care, as well as help with household tasks— including transportation—are provided to the elderly by family members, often daughters and daughters-in-law. With the high levels of women working, there is a growing need for elderly service providers, including special transportation services designed to meet their unique needs. How our multimodal transportation system will meet the mobility needs of our expanding elderly population is a question of growing importance.