Bureau of Transportation Statistics U.S. Department of Transportation Overall Travel Patterns of...

Bureau of Transportation StatisticsU.S. Department of Transportation

Overall Travel Patterns of Older Americans

Jeffery L. [email protected]

The analysis and results presented here are solely the authors and do not necessarily represent official policy of the Bureau of Transportation Statistics


2001 National Household Transportation Survey

• A national survey of 60,000 individuals in 26,000 households

• Data collected from March 2001 to May 2002

• Data collected for both Daily and Long-Distance Trips

• Weighted responses


NHTS Long-Distance Trips

• Trips over 50 miles to farthest destination

• Data collected for all trips during a specific 4-week period

• Each trip includes all segments of the trip, originating and ending at home


Mean Number of Yearly Long-Distance Trips by Gender, Driver Status, and Age Group

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

25 - 54 55 - 64 65 - 74 75+

Age Group

Male Drivers

Female Drivers

Male Non-Drivers

Female Non-Drivers


• Drivers make significantly more long-distance trips than non-drivers for all age groups

• Male drivers make more trips than female drivers for all age groups, though the gap narrows with the 75+ age group

• Conversely female non-drivers make about the same or slightly more trips than male non-drivers


Percentage of Long-Distance Trips by Mode for Each Age Group

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

25 - 54 55 - 64 65 - 74 75+

Age Group

Personal Veh.

Air

Bus

Other


• Personal vehicle is the dominant mode for long-distance trips, about 87% to 90% of all trips

• Bus use increases for higher age groups, from about 1% for the 25-54 age group, to about 6% for the 75+ age group

• The use of air travel does not vary much by age group


Percentage of Long-Distance Trips by Trip Purpose for Each Age Group

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

25 - 54 55 - 64 65 - 74 75+

Age Group

Commute

Business

Pleasure

Personal Business

Other


• Long distance commuting and business trips decline sharply at higher age groups

• Pleasure trips increase from about 46% in the 25-54 age group to about 66% in the 75+ age group

• Personal business trips also increase from about 10% in the 25-54 age group to about 25% in the 75+ age group


Percentage of Trips by Trip Distance for Each Age Group

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

25 - 54 55 - 64 65 - 74 75+

Age Group

50-99 miles

100-249 miles

250-499 miles

500-999 miles

1000+ miles


• There is very little change in distance traveled by different age groups

• The 65-74 age group shows the greatest variation, with somewhat fewer trips in the 50-99 mile category, and more trips in the 100-249 mile category

• The percentage of the longest trips (over a 1,000 miles) are very similar at about 6 to 7 percent of all trips for each age category


NHTS Daily Trips

• Data collected for all trips on one specified day

• Travel made from one address to another is reported as a separate trip

• Specific questions and probes were added to capture biking and walking trips, thought to be undercounted in previous surveys


Percentage of Daily Trips, by Time Period, for Each Age Group

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

25 - 54 55 - 64 65 - 74 75 - 84 85 +

Age Group

0-3 AM

3-6 AM

6-9 AM

9-12 AM

12-3 PM

3-6 PM

6-9 PM

9-12 PM


• A significant narrowing of hours trips are taken occurs at higher age groups

• The percentage of trips taken between 9-12 am and 12-3 pm goes up at higher age groups, about 62% of all trips taken by the 75+ age group are taken during these hours

• Early morning and night time periods decline at higher age groups


Mean Number of Daily Trips, by Gender, Driver Status, and Age Group

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

25 - 54 55 - 64 65 - 74 75 - 84 85 +

Age Group

Male Drivers

Female Drivers

Male Non-Drivers

Female Non-Drivers


• Mean number of trips decline at higher age groups

• Non-drivers take far fewer trips than drivers across all age groups, for example in the 85+ age group, drivers take an average of about 3 trips a day compared to about 1 trip a day for non-drivers

• Much smaller differences are observed between males and females


Percentage of Daily Trips, by Mode, for Each Age Group

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

25 - 54 55 - 64 65 - 74 75 - 84 85 +

Age Group

Sing Ocup Priv Veh

Mult Ocup Priv Veh

Transit

Walk

Other


• Private vehicle is the dominant mode across all age groups, used in about 90% of all trips

• Multiple occupancy vehicles are used more frequently at higher age groups

• Transit use is very low, between 1% and 2%• Walking trips make up about 8% to 9% of all

trips, consistent over all age groups


Percentage of Daily Trips by Trip Purpose for Each Age Group

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

25 - 54 55 - 64 65 - 74 75 - 84 85 +

Age Group

Work/Work-Related

Family/Personal

Church/School

Social/Recreational

Other


• Family/personal and social/recreational trips represent about 87% to 90% of all trips for older Americans

• Church/school trips represent about an additional 5% to 6% of all trips for older Americans

• Work trips decline substantially at higher age groups, but do not disappear. About 2% to 6% of all trips by older Americans are work or work related trips

Bureau of Transportation Statistics U.S. Department of Transportation Overall Travel Patterns of...

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