When older adults (age 60 and above) have inadequate access to transportation, they tend to
experience lower levels of physical activity, reduced independence, and greater health risks. In
coming years, a noteworthy challenge for planners and policymakers will be to expand mobility
on and access to public transit for the growing population of older adults in the United States.
Although the private automobile remains the primary travel mode for a majority of older
adults, capturing 90 percent of travel (Federal Highway Administration 2001), public transit
can provide autonomous travel for those who cannot drive or choose not to drive. Various
studies conducted since the mid-1990s by the Surface Transportation Policy Project (STPP),
the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), the American Public Transportation
Association (APTA), and other policy organizations and researchers have arrived at the same
conclusion: the United States is ill-prepared to provide adequate transportation for the rapidly
growing number of older adults (Millar 2005).