HOW DO OLDER ADULTS GET AROUND THE REGION? · Findings about how older people travel from the survey include: • Trends since 2006 show that more older adults continue to have a

Household Travel Survey (2017)

1

Mode choice and age

2%

46%49%

33% 34%

9%

79%

10%13%

9% 9%4%

0% 1% 0% 1% 0% 0%

HOW DO OLDER ADULTS GET AROUND THE REGION?

The Puget Sound Regional Council household travel surveys collect day-to-day information from households in the central Puget Sound region about how and where we travel. The goal of the surveys is to obtain a complete picture of travel patterns in the region.

The 2017 survey asked about how people of all ages travel, including older adults. Want to know more? The survey data is available on psrc.org.

Findings about how older people travel from the survey include:

• Trendssince2006showthatmoreolderadultscontinuetohaveadriver’slicenseastheyage. Older people drive or are driven for most of their trips.

• Olderadultsaremorelikelytofrequentlytakewalkscomparedtoyoungeradults,butnotbikerides.

• Peopleage65andolderarelesslikelytousetransitandride-hailingservices(Uber/Lyft)than younger adults.

Older People Are in Cars On About 85% of Their Trips

Olderpeoplearedrivingorbeingdrivenonabout85%oftheirtrips.Peopleage65andolderdrivealonejustasmuchaspeopleage18to64—withabout50%oftheirtripsbeingsingle-occupancyvehicletrips.Furthermore,peopleage65andolderaremuchlesslikelytousetransit.Adultsage65andolderridetransitonabout5%oftheirtrips,whereasadultsage18to64ridetransitonabout10%oftheirtrips.

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Older Workers Are Less Likely to To Have Employer Subsidized Transit

Anotherreasonthatpeopleage65andoldermaynotbetakingtransitisthattheirworkplacesarelesslikelytoofferfreeorsubsidizedtransitthantheworkplacesofyoungeradults.Around10%ofworkersage65andolderareofferedfreeorsubsidizedtransitthroughtheirworkplace.Incomparison,35%ofworkersage18–64areofferedfreeorsubsidizedtransit.

Trip purpose by age

1%

16%19%

27%

15%11%

0%

32%

37%

21%

1%

35%

15%

28%

42%

Onereasonthatadultsage65andoldermayusetransitlessisthattheytakefewerworktrips.Regionaltransitsystems are designed around providing people a way to travel to work and school, more so than conducting otherdailyactivities.Olderadultswhoarenotgoingtoworkmayfinditdifficulttotaketransittonon-workactivitiesascomparedtoworkactivities.About10%oftripsforpeopleage65andolderareforworkpurposes,as compared to 20% of trips being for work purposes for people age 18 to 64.

Employer offers free or partially subsidized transit

19%17%

48%

28%

5%7%

16%

60%



Older People Take Frequent Walks, Few Bike Rides

Althoughpeopleage65+areusingtransitlessthanyoungeradults,theyarewalkingmorefrequentlythanyoungeradults.Athirdofpeopleage65+wentforawalkfivedaysormoreaweek.Fewolderpeoplearetakingbikerides.Nearly75%ofpeopleage65+reportednevergoingforabikeride,ascomparedto65%of people age 18 to 64.

How often went for walk longer than 15 minutes

21%

39%

18%

22%

27%30%

22%24%

34%

19%

24%21%

Trends Show An Increase in Older People With Driver’s License

Anotherreasonthatolderadultsmaybedrivingasmuchasyoungeradultsisthattheystillhavedriver’slicenses.Long-termtrendsfromthehouseholdsurveysshowaconsistentincreaseinolderadultswhocontinuetohavedriver’slicenses.

Percent of older adults with driver’s licenses

92% 95% 97%

84% 84%94%



Older Adults Are Less Likely to Use Uber and Lyft And Less Interested in Owning Autonomous Vehicles

Thesurveyaskedpeopleabouthowfrequentlytheyusedride-hailingserviceslikeUberandLyft.Peopleage65andolderweresubstantiallylesslikelytohaveusedaride-hailingservicethanyoungeradults.Onlyaround10%ofadultsage65andolderhadusedride-hailingservices,ascomparedtoaround30%ofadultsages 18 to 64.

How often went for bike ride longer than 15 minutes

6%

26%30%

38%

0%

21%

3%7%

24%

66%

74%

6%

How often do you use ride-hailing (Uber/Lyft)?

16%12% 9%

90%

72%

1%



Conclusions

Peopleovertheageof65aredrivingformostoftheirtransportationandshowanincreasedtrendinholdingontotheirdriver’slicenses.Theyarewalkingfrequently,buttheyarelesslikelytobike,usetransitanduseride-hailing services than younger people. The survey indicates that older adults could potentially use help in scheduling and navigating transportation options like transit and new transportation technologies like ride-hailing.

Older adults are less interested in using new transportation technologies. When asked about their interest in owninganautonomouscar,peopleage65+werelessinterestedthanyoungergroups.

Interest in owning autonomous cars by age

46%

59%

8%

3%

8%10% 11%

5%

15%12%

14%11%

Documents

HOW DO OLDER ADULTS GET AROUND THE REGION? · Findings about how older people travel from the survey include: • Trends since 2006 show that more older adults continue to have a