High-Quality Transportation Services for Seniors

Seniors need mobility for their independence and freedom. The rapid growth of senior populations in many countries necessitates a close examination of potential mobility improvements. While the vast majority of seniors are able to provide their own mobility, often by driving, this paper focuses on developing suitable transport options to the private car. These options include the development of better public transit services and instituting more attractive and more cost-effective special transportation services. Enhanced transportation services would allow more seniors to age in place in their own homes, which is a highly cost-effective way of caring for seniors. Case studies of transportation services in the U.S. demonstrate replicable high-quality transportation services for seniors. Improvements to public transit services that would benefit seniors, gleaned from focus groups with seniors, focus groups with transportation operators, and dozens of case studies of transit operations, would benefit the rest of the traveling public as well. Coordinated transportation services are substantially more cost-effective than non-coordinated operations, as demonstrated by an in-depth look at 14 case studies of coordinated transportation services in the aging network. An in-depth examination of 22 case studies, with special emphasis on 6 of them, demonstrates how door-through-door services aid those seniors with the most significant mobility limitations. The lessons presented in this paper can provide great assistance to communities that wish to substantially improve mobility options for seniors living there.