Abstract Manager

With aging populations, driving cessation of older adults in car-centric environments presents a new challenge for transport practitioners. Promoting accessibility through public-transit could allow older adults to age in place and continue to travel independently. In this study, we develop a methodology to orient interventions to increase accessibility by public-transit where it is low and apply it to older adults in three Canadian metropolitan areas. Census tracts are selected using accessibility to jobs by transit and concentration of older adults with multiple measures being tested for both criteria to assess the effect of methodological choices on policy recommendations. A conceptual framework is presented to inform the type of transport or land-use interventions most relevant to improve accessibility levels in each area. Findings show the selection process is sensitive to the measure used to quantify the concentration of older adults, but not to different job types as destinations. Socioeconomic and geographical differences are observed between the types of interventions proposed. The results presented in this paper can be of value for practitioners aiming to integrate aging considerations in transport planning. The framework and methodology developed can be easily adapted to other regions and sociodemographic groups, as the data used is widely available.