Using the 2017 National Household Travel Survey Data to Explore the Elderly’s Travel Patterns

Transportation mobility is a critical element of the elderly’s quality of life. The rapid growth of the older population increases the importance of investigating the elderly’s travel behavior. The elderly’s mobility is often limited due to their physical abilities and financial constraints. By using data from the 2017 National Household Travel Survey (NHTS), the goal of this study was to explore the mobility patterns of the American elderly. The elderly’s number of trips is studied among different racial groups and different incomes. The number of trips has been compared for walk, bike, and transit trips. It was hypothesized that the number of trips of elderlies decreases by the presence of other person(s) at the house. In other words, if an elderly person lives in a house where the household size is more than one he/she has fewer trips than if he/she lives in a house where the household size is one. It was also hypothesized that the number of trips of the elderlies is affected by their race. Moreover, since income plays an important role in individuals’ travel behavior, the effect of income has been investigated for the elderlies. It was hypothesized that more amount of income, results in more number of trips. Hence, it is recommended to increase the public transportation quality where there is a huge elderly population who have low income. All analysis has been done using both NHTS 2017 and NHTS 2009 dataset, and the results have been compared. This study’s findings are valuable for the transportation planner by providing additional information about the elderly’s travel patterns.