The future of transport for the elderly

When it comes to future mobility for the elderly, their needs are often overlooked. This is compounded by the fact that there are no current studies to address the issue, so improving the situation and looking into changing the future needs to be addressed.

The EU-funded 'Transport needs for an ageing society' (TRACY) project aims to present a complete picture and evaluation of the present situationnational strategies and policies dealing with this issue, while also identifying research gaps and making recommendations for the future.

But first, a comprehensive study is needed to establish an overview of policies and practical issues relating to transport needs for the elderly. This requires data from countries under consideration for the project: 27 European Union Member States, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland and the United States of America.

The analysis is structured around themes that address technical issues, including safety, infrastructure needs and transport systems, and human factors like gender, special needs and human-machine interfaces. It also considers diversity, incorporating cultural, welfare, political, geographical and regional differences, and alternative approaches such as accessibility, virtual mobility and mobile services.

The report gives insights into the demographic trends and it forecasts and summarises key transport characteristics. In addition, populations in the majority of the countries were found to be ageing, which signals the need for change in the demands placed on the transport system. It also highlighted the countries where car dependency is more prevalent.

More details can be found at the following link: http://cordis.europa.eu/fetch?CALLER=OFFR_TM_EN&ACTION=D&RCN=10959