01551673

Component

Given the aging demographic landscape, the concept of walkable neighborhoods has emerged as a topic of some interest, especially during the last decade. However, very little is known about whether neighbourhood design promotes lower income older adult's travel behaviour. Therefore, the authors i) examined the relation between trip distance and socio-demographic, and mobility related accessibility features of lower income older adults who reside in Metro Vancouver; ii) analyzed mode use behavior of lower income older adults who live in the same geographic area; and, iii) developed a web-based application to calculate the accessibility score (A-score) of lower income older adults in Metro Vancouver based on their travel behavior. The authors used multilevel linear regression to estimate the determinants of trip lengths and a multilevel multinomial model to estimate the propensity of using different travel modes. The authors found that in this lower income older population distance travelled using active modes was associated with gender (men travelled further than women, on average), living arrangement (those residing with a family member other than their spouse travelled further) and whether or not they owned a dog (interaction between dog ownership and walking for transport was positively associated with trip length). As per other reports, increased age was associated with a decreased likelihood of walking as compared to driving. Finally, among the participants all of whom were of low socioeconomic status, older adults who self-identified as a visible minority were more likely to walk than use their car. Taken together these findings lend credence to the role of neighbourhood design and the opportunity landscape (neighbourhood accessibility) to promote active modes of transport in lower income older adults. Therefore, the authors created a web-based calculator that generates an Accessibility (A)- score using Google Maps API v3 that can be used to evaluate neighbourhoods as to their livability for older adults.

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AFB40 Landscape and Environmental Design.

01550057

15-0652

English

18p

2015

Transportation Research Board 94th Annual Meeting

Digital/other

Figures; References; Tables

Accessibility; Aged; Demographics; Linear regression analysis; Low income groups; Mobility; Neighborhoods; Quality of life; Social factors; Travel behavior; Trip length; Urban design; Walkability

Google Maps

Vancouver (Canada)

Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Planning and Forecasting; Society; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2015 Paper #15-0652

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Dec 30 2014 12:19PM