Adults 60 and Older Unlikely to Use Public Transportation

Public transportation can provide a safe and easy alternative for those who do not have regular access to a motor vehicle. However, a recent study conducted by researchers at the Brown School in St. Louis, Mo., found that older adults who are typically more prone to health issues that could prevent driving were unlikely to use public transportation.

Lead study author J. Aaron Hipp, Ph.D., and assistant professor at the school, reviewed results from a survey that went out to 772 adults living in St. Louis, Mo., in 2012. The survey asked people about their perceptions of environmental areas, including parks, greenways and other different types of infrastructure, along with their physical activity levels and transportation habits.

Study findings revealed that those 60 and older were less likely to use public transportation for five or more days within the last week when compared to those who were between the ages of 18-29, according to a news release. 

Those who used public transit were more likely to meet physical activity requirements that promoted overall health and well-being. Older individuals who were skeptical of public transit sited perceptions of speeding traffic and high crime as partial reasons for avoidance of this alternative method. 

However, researchers believe that by making public transit more easily available to older adults and easier to use, more may begin to actively benefit from this means of transportation.

"Older adults deserve a mix of transportation options, including public transit, which gets them to destinations and services that can encourage their independence," concluded doctoral student Marissa Zwald, via Medical Xpress. "Policies such as Safe Routes to Transit and incentives for public transit can encourage older adults, and people of all ages, to use public transportation."

More information regarding the findings can be seen via the study, "Correlates of Walking for Transportation and Use of Public Transportation Among Adults in St. Louis, Missouri, 2012," in the journal Preventing Chronic Disease.