Ageing in Place: The Out-of-Home Travel Patterns of Seniors in Victoria and its Policy Implications

Abstract

The decade immediately after the end of the Second World War gave rise to three key societal developments in Australia—a dramatic increase in the birth rate and car ownership, plus an acceleration of the suburbanisation process. Five decades later, these three developments would converge and give rise to a new public policy problem: a spatially dispersed ageing population. To address this problem, Australia has opted for an ‘ageing in place’ strategy. While this strategy has been embraced by many, it poses a number of serious challenges for both policymakers and seniors alike. Foremost amongst them is the issue of being able to access outside of the home those things that are deemed essential to one's well-being and quality of life. This article explores this issue through an assessment of the out-of-home travel behaviour of a sample of seniors who live in or on the outskirts of metropolitan Melbourne. It investigates why seniors in three different case study areas need to travel outside the home, how often and how far, plus what modes of transportation are used. The study establishes that if an ageing in place strategy is to continue then seniors must be able to access a wide range of services and facilities either in their immediate neighbourhood or surrounding area. Urban and regional planners will need to respond to this emerging issue as the number of seniors projected to retire and live on into their late 80s is going to triple in the coming decades.