Abstract
Older people’s travel behaviour is affected by negative or positive critical incidents in the public transport environment. With the objective of identifying such incidents during whole trips and examining how travel behaviour had changed, we have conducted in-depth interviews with 30 participants aged 65–91 years in the County of Stockholm, Sweden. Out of 469 incidents identified, 77 were reported to have resulted in travel behaviour change, 67 of them in a negative way. Most critical incidents were encountered in the physical environment on-board vehicles and at stations/stops as well as in pricing/ticketing. The findings show that more personal assistance, better driving behaviour, and swift maintenance of elevators and escalators are key facilitators that would improve predictability in travelling and enhance vulnerable older travellers’ feeling of security. The results demonstrate the benefit of involving different groups of end users in future planning and design, such that transport systems would meet the various needs of its end users.
Highlights
Because of the ageing populations in many European countries, the proportion of journeys made by older people is expected to increase (Myck 2015)
The results demonstrate the benefit of involving different groups of end users in future planning and design, such that transport systems would meet the various needs of its end users
Most interviewees had a combination of functional limitations, with the number increasing with age (Table 1)
Summary
Because of the ageing populations in many European countries, the proportion of journeys made by older people is expected to increase (Myck 2015). By 2060, almost 25 % of the Swedish population is expected to be more than 65 years old, compared with 19 % in 2011 (Statistics Sweden 2012). With increasing age, functional limitations become more common, and many older adults will have acquired more than one such limitation (Sundling et al 2014a), which may complicate travelling. Mobility is determined by cognitive, psychosocial, physical, environmental, and financial influences. It may reduce the risk of social exclusion, which in turn enhances well-being (Stanley et al 2011). Older adults constitute a heterogeneous group with regard to mobility: Those aged
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