Youth, Age, and Transportation Accessibility: An Intermetropolitan Comparison

Broadly accepted across the transportation fields is the idea that the purpose of transportation is not movement per se, but access to activities at one's destination. The implication of this is that transportation outcomes are most appropriately evaluated in accessibility, rather than mobility terms. The proposed project joins with an established effort at the University of Michigan that is developing and comparing accessibility metrics among 30 of the largest 50 metropolitan areas in the United States. The proposed project will add to the existing study the dimension of the accessibility characteristics and travel behavior of younger and older travelers. The approach is to analyze jointly the place-based accessibility indicators developed in the existing study and household-and person-level characteristics that can be gleaned from metropolitan household travel surveys. Since the surveys represent a snapshot of the population, they will enable this project to analyze and compare accessibility characteristics of older and younger travelers in different land-use and transportation environments: between metropolitan regions, indifferent locations within a single metropolitan region, and with varying levels of access to transportation alternatives. The study will also examine the travel behavior or individuals in these age cohorts in light of the accessibility characteristics of their locations, testing, for example, the impact of attributes of location on the propensity of older people to take trips or to engage in social and recreational activities. This proposal responds to M-CASTL's thrust of pertaining to transportation options of young people and older adults when they are unable or choose not to drive themselves. It is not limited to non-driving travel, however. Even travelers who have access to automobiles face differences in accessibility based on their location. Some areas offer many destinations close by; others require many long-distance trips. Where driving capacity is limited, the presence of nearby destinations may be particularly important to the ability to meet one's needs.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $174646.00
• Contract Numbers:

  F020371

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Center for Advancing Safe Transportation Throughout the Lifespan

  University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
  Ann Arbor, MI  United States  48109-2150
• Performing Organizations:

  University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

  Urban and Regional Planning Program, 2000 Bonisteel Boulevard
  Ann Arbor, MI  United States  48109-2069
• Principal Investigators:

  Levine, Jonathan

• Start Date: 20080415
• Expected Completion Date: 0
• Actual Completion Date: 20091231
• Source Data: RiP Project 18215

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Accessibility; City planning; Land use; Land use planning; Metropolitan areas; Research projects; Travel behavior; Travel surveys
• Subject Areas: Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; Safety and Human Factors; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01462559
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Center for Advancing Safe Transportation Throughout the Lifespan
• Contract Numbers: F020371
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Jan 3 2013 2:06PM