Rural Transportation Needs and Demands: Definition and Measurement in the Case of the Rural Elderly

This paper describes how experienced transportation planners often face situations where a significant target group is in need of given transportation services and yet, when supplied with service availability, the service is either not used or used infrequently. These situations highlight the differences between need and actual use of a transportation service. This paper presents some approaches to the translation of needs into actual demands for services, using as a reference the provision of transportation services in rural areas with some emphasis on the rural elderly.