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Accessibility by public transport for older adults: A systematic review

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  • Ravensbergen, Léa
  • Van Liefferinge, Mathilde
  • Isabella, Jimenez
  • Merrina, Zhang
  • El-Geneidy, Ahmed

Abstract

Accessibility, the ease of reaching destinations through a transport network, holds great potential to help foster equitable and sustainable cities. Though equity analyses are often considered in accessibility studies, only recently have researchers begun to consider older adults' access to destinations. In the context of an aging population, this paper presents a systematic review of the literature on older adults' accessibility using public transport. Our comprehensive review identifies articles focused on older adults' access to destinations via public transport published since 2000 (n = 16). Quality assessments indicate that this work has little risk of selection bias but could improve when it comes to study design. The ways in which accessibility are measured vary greatly across papers, with regards not just to accessibility metrics, but also the type of destinations used, public transport modes considered, and the ways in which older people are conceptualized. This makes it difficult to draw conclusions across studies on older adults' accessibility. Therefore, we call for more research on older adults' accessibility that engages with critical gerontology and age-friendly city frameworks. Doing so should involve centering the voices and experiences of older people into public transport accessibility research by, for instance, asking them which destinations should be considered and which thresholds should be used. In practice, this can be achieved through an experience-based co-design research approach or by actively reaching out to older people through other methods such as surveys, interviews, or focus groups.

Suggested Citation

  • Ravensbergen, Léa & Van Liefferinge, Mathilde & Isabella, Jimenez & Merrina, Zhang & El-Geneidy, Ahmed, 2022. "Accessibility by public transport for older adults: A systematic review," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:jotrge:v:103:y:2022:i:c:s0966692322001314
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2022.103408
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Chen, Wendong & Cheng, Long & Chen, Xuewu & Chen, Jingxu & Cao, Mengqiu, 2021. "Measuring accessibility to health care services for older bus passengers: A finer spatial resolution," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
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    4. Allen, Jeff & Farber, Steven, 2019. "Sizing up transport poverty: A national scale accounting of low-income households suffering from inaccessibility in Canada, and what to do about it," SocArXiv ua2gj, Center for Open Science.
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    8. Grisé, Emily & Boisjoly, Geneviève & Maguire, Meadhbh & El-Geneidy, Ahmed, 2019. "Elevating access: Comparing accessibility to jobs by public transport for individuals with and without a physical disability," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 280-293.
    9. Li, Shengxiao (Alex) & Duan, Hongyu (Anna) & Smith, Tony E. & Hu, Haoyu, 2021. "Time-varying accessibility to senior centers by public transit in Philadelphia," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 245-258.
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    11. Allen, Jeff & Farber, Steven, 2020. "Planning transport for social inclusion: An accessibility-activity participation approach," SocArXiv ap7wh, Center for Open Science.
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    Cited by:

    1. Buehler, Ralph & Pucher, John & Wittwer, Rico & Gerike, Regine, 2024. "Trends and determinants of the mobility of older adults in the USA and Germany, 2001–2017," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    2. Renata Żochowska & Marcin Jacek Kłos & Piotr Soczówka & Marcin Pilch, 2022. "Assessment of Accessibility of Public Transport by Using Temporal and Spatial Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-29, December.
    3. Giovanni Vecchio & Ignacio Tiznado-Aitken & Bryan Castillo & Stefan Steiniger, 2024. "Fair transport policies for older people: accessibility and affordability of public transport in Santiago, Chile," Transportation, Springer, vol. 51(2), pages 689-715, April.
    4. Elżbieta Szaruga & Bartosz Pilecki & Marta Sidorkiewicz, 2023. "The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic, Transport Accessibility, and Accommodation Accessibility on the Energy Intensity of Public Tourist Transport," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(19), pages 1-27, October.

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