IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/transa/v154y2021icp203-226.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Gender differences in elderly mobility in the United States

Author

Listed:
  • Mitra, Suman
  • Yao, Mingqi
  • Ritchie, Stephen G.

Abstract

Mobility is a critical element of one's quality of life regardless of one's age. Although the challenges for women are more significant than those for men as they age, far less is known about the gender differences in mobility patterns of older adults, especially in the United States (US) context. This paper reports on a study that examined potential gender gaps in mobility patterns of older adults (aged 65 years and over) in the US by analyzing data from the 2017 National Household Travel Survey. Elderly respondents were first classified into one of six clusters based on socio-demographic variables. A Structural Equation Model (SEM) was then estimated and showed that gender gaps existed in the mobility patterns of the elderly, and the differences were diverse across the different clusters. The most substantial gender gap was found in the Senior Elder with Medical Condition(s) cluster, followed by the High-income Workers cluster and the Middle-income Urban Residents cluster. In contrast, females in the Low-Income Single Elder cluster enjoyed statistically significant positive mobility differences with their male counterparts. Our results also found that female elderly in the Senior Elder with Medical Condition(s) and the Low-income Family Elder clusters suffered most after the cessation of driving, with the largest mobility gender gap in the Middle-income Urban Resident cluster. This study will help transportation planners and policymakers understand gender and other socio-demographic differences in elderly mobility. Thus, it will facilitate the development of measures to improve elderly mobility and reduce gender gaps by recognizing and addressing specific target groups' mobility characteristics and needs rather than treating the elderly as a single potential user group.

Suggested Citation

  • Mitra, Suman & Yao, Mingqi & Ritchie, Stephen G., 2021. "Gender differences in elderly mobility in the United States," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 203-226.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:154:y:2021:i:c:p:203-226
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2021.10.015
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965856421002706
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.tra.2021.10.015?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Xinyu (Jason) Cao & Patricia L. Mokhtarian & Susan L. Handy, 2008. "Examining the Impacts of Residential Self‐Selection on Travel Behaviour: A Focus on Empirical Findings," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(3), pages 359-395, October.
    2. Etminani-Ghasrodashti, Roya & Ardeshiri, Mahyar, 2016. "The impacts of built environment on home-based work and non-work trips: An empirical study from Iran," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 196-207.
    3. Glenn Milligan & Martha Cooper, 1988. "A study of standardization of variables in cluster analysis," Journal of Classification, Springer;The Classification Society, vol. 5(2), pages 181-204, September.
    4. Schmöcker, Jan-Dirk, 2009. "Access, Aging, and Impairments Part A: Impairments and Behaviorial Responses," The Journal of Transport and Land Use, Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota, vol. 2(1), pages 1-2.
    5. Reid Ewing & Robert Cervero, 2010. "Travel and the Built Environment," Journal of the American Planning Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 76(3), pages 265-294.
    6. Golob, Thomas F., 2003. "Structural equation modeling for travel behavior research," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 1-25, January.
    7. Moniruzzaman, Md. & Páez, Antonio & Nurul Habib, Khandker M. & Morency, Catherine, 2013. "Mode use and trip length of seniors in Montreal," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 89-99.
    8. Mokhtarian, Patricia L. & Cao, Xinyu, 2008. "Examining the impacts of residential self-selection on travel behavior: A focus on methodologies," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 204-228, March.
    9. Borsch-Supan, Axel, 1992. "Saving and Consumption Patterns of the Elderly: The German Case," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 5(4), pages 289-303.
    10. Banister, David & Bowling, Ann, 2004. "Quality of life for the elderly: the transport dimension," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 11(2), pages 105-115, April.
    11. Patricia L. Mokhtarian & Michael N. Bagley, 2002. "The impact of residential neighborhood type on travel behavior: A structural equations modeling approach," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 36(2), pages 279-297.
    12. Arber, Sara & Cooper, Helen, 1999. "Gender differences in health in later life: the new paradox?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 61-76, January.
    13. Cynthia Chen & Hongmian Gong & Robert Paaswell, 2008. "Role of the built environment on mode choice decisions: additional evidence on the impact of density," Transportation, Springer, vol. 35(3), pages 285-299, May.
    14. Metz, D. H., 2000. "Mobility of older people and their quality of life," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 149-152, April.
    15. Eric Hildebrand, 2003. "Dimensions in elderly travel behaviour: A simplified activity-based model using lifestyle clusters," Transportation, Springer, vol. 30(3), pages 285-306, August.
    16. Bhat, Chandra R. & Guo, Jessica Y., 2007. "A comprehensive analysis of built environment characteristics on household residential choice and auto ownership levels," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 41(5), pages 506-526, June.
    17. Cao, Xinyu & Mokhtarian, Patricia & Handy, Susan, 2008. "Examining The Impacts of Residential Self-Selection on Travel Behavior: Methodologies and Empirical Findings," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt08x1k476, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.
    18. Van Acker, Veronique & Witlox, Frank, 2010. "Car ownership as a mediating variable in car travel behaviour research using a structural equation modelling approach to identify its dual relationship," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 65-74.
    19. Morency, Catherine & Paez, Antonio & Roorda, Matthew J. & Mercado, Ruben & Farber, Steven, 2011. "Distance traveled in three Canadian cities: Spatial analysis from the perspective of vulnerable population segments," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 39-50.
    20. Carlo Luiu & Miles Tight & Michael Burrow, 2017. "The unmet travel needs of the older population: a review of the literature," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(4), pages 488-506, July.
    21. Antonio Paez & Darren Scott & Dimitris Potoglou & Pavlos Kanaroglou & K. Bruce Newbold, 2007. "Elderly Mobility: Demographic and Spatial Analysis of Trip Making in the Hamilton CMA, Canada," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 44(1), pages 123-146, January.
    22. Wendy Bohte & Kees Maat & Bert van Wee, 2009. "Measuring Attitudes in Research on Residential Self‐Selection and Travel Behaviour: A Review of Theories and Empirical Research," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(3), pages 325-357, February.
    23. Spinney, Jamie E.L. & Scott, Darren M. & Newbold, K. Bruce, 2009. "Transport mobility benefits and quality of life: A time-use perspective of elderly Canadians," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 1-11, January.
    24. Matthew Roorda & Antonio Páez & Catherine Morency & Ruben Mercado & Steven Farber, 2010. "Trip generation of vulnerable populations in three Canadian cities: a spatial ordered probit approach," Transportation, Springer, vol. 37(3), pages 525-548, May.
    25. de Abreu e Silva, João & Morency, Catherine & Goulias, Konstadinos G., 2012. "Using structural equations modeling to unravel the influence of land use patterns on travel behavior of workers in Montreal," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 46(8), pages 1252-1264.
    26. Schmöcker, Jan-Dirk, 2009. "Access, Aging, and Impairments Part B: Accessibility Planning," The Journal of Transport and Land Use, Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota, vol. 2(2), pages 1-2.
    27. Timothée Cuignet & Camille Perchoux & Geoffrey Caruso & Olivier Klein & Sylvain Klein & Basile Chaix & Yan Kestens & Philippe Gerber, 2020. "Mobility among older adults: Deconstructing the effects of motility and movement on wellbeing," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 57(2), pages 383-401, February.
    28. Alan C. Acock, 2013. "Discovering Structural Equation Modeling Using Stata," Stata Press books, StataCorp LP, number dsemus, March.
    29. Crane, Randall, 2007. "Is There a Quiet Revolution in Women's Travel? Revisiting the Gender Gap in Commuting," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt8nj9n8nb, University of California Transportation Center.
    30. Van Acker, Veronique & Mokhtarian, Patricia L. & Witlox, Frank, 2014. "Car availability explained by the structural relationships between lifestyles, residential location, and underlying residential and travel attitudes," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 88-99.
    31. Cao, Xinyu, 2006. "The Causal Relationship between the Built Environment and Personal Travel Choice: Evidence from Northern California," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt07q5p340, University of California Transportation Center.
    32. Johnson, Rebecca & Shaw, Jon & Berding, Jörn & Gather, Matthias & Rebstock, Markus, 2017. "European national government approaches to older people's transport system needs," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 17-27.
    33. Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris & Martin Wachs & Miriam Pinski, 2019. "Toward a Richer Picture of the Mobility Needs of Older Americans," Journal of the American Planning Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 85(4), pages 482-500, October.
    34. Lo, A. W.-T. & Houston, D., 2018. "How do compact, accessible, and walkable communities promote gender equality in spatial behavior?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 42-54.
    35. Xinyu Cao & Susan Handy & Patricia Mokhtarian, 2006. "The Influences of the Built Environment and Residential Self-Selection on Pedestrian Behavior: Evidence from Austin, TX," Transportation, Springer, vol. 33(1), pages 1-20, January.
    36. Karim W. F. Youssef, 2018. "The built environment and public health," Community Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(1), pages 121-122, January.
    37. Sonja Haustein, 2012. "Mobility behavior of the elderly: an attitude-based segmentation approach for a heterogeneous target group," Transportation, Springer, vol. 39(6), pages 1079-1103, November.
    38. Hjorthol, Randi J. & Levin, Lena & Sirén, Anu, 2010. "Mobility in different generations of older persons," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 18(5), pages 624-633.
    39. Alsnih, Rahaf & Hensher, David A., 2003. "The mobility and accessibility expectations of seniors in an aging population," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 37(10), pages 903-916, December.
    40. Joachim Scheiner & Christian Holz-Rau, 2007. "Travel mode choice: affected by objective or subjective determinants?," Transportation, Springer, vol. 34(4), pages 487-511, July.
    41. Figueroa, Maria J. & Nielsen, Thomas A. Sick & Siren, Anu, 2014. "Comparing urban form correlations of the travel patterns of older and younger adults," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 10-20.
    42. Dillon, William R & Mulani, Narendra & Frederick, Donald G, 1989. "On the Use of Component Scores in the Presence of Group Structure," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 16(1), pages 106-112, June.
    43. Schmöcker, Jan-Dirk & Quddus, Mohammed A. & Noland, Robert B. & Bell, Michael G.H., 2008. "Mode choice of older and disabled people: a case study of shopping trips in London," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 16(4), pages 257-267.
    44. Khattak, Asad J. & Rodriguez, Daniel, 2005. "Travel behavior in neo-traditional neighborhood developments: A case study in USA," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 481-500, July.
    45. Gouri Shankar Mishra & Patricia L. Mokhtarian & Regina R. Clewlow & Keith F. Widaman, 2019. "Addressing the joint occurrence of self-selection and simultaneity biases in the estimation of program effects based on cross-sectional observational surveys: case study of travel behavior effects in ," Transportation, Springer, vol. 46(1), pages 95-123, February.
    46. Shoval, Noam & Auslander, Gail & Cohen-Shalom, Kineret & Isaacson, Michal & Landau, Ruth & Heinik, Jeremia, 2010. "What can we learn about the mobility of the elderly in the GPS era?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 18(5), pages 603-612.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Willberg, Elias & Fink, Christoph & Toivonen, Tuuli, 2023. "The 15-minute city for all? – Measuring individual and temporal variations in walking accessibility," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mitra, Suman K. & Saphores, Jean-Daniel M., 2019. "Why do they live so far from work? Determinants of long-distance commuting in California," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    2. Mitra, Suman K. & Saphores, Jean-Daniel M., 2017. "Carless in California: Green choice or misery?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 1-12.
    3. Xinyu Cao & Patricia L. Mokhtarian, 2012. "The connections among accessibility, self- selection and walking behaviour: a case study of Northern California residents," Chapters, in: Karst T. Geurs & Kevin J. Krizek & Aura Reggiani (ed.), Accessibility Analysis and Transport Planning, chapter 5, pages 73-95, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. Jonas De Vos & Long Cheng & Frank Witlox, 2021. "Do changes in the residential location lead to changes in travel attitudes? A structural equation modeling approach," Transportation, Springer, vol. 48(4), pages 2011-2034, August.
    5. Ding, Yu & Lu, Huapu, 2016. "Activity participation as a mediating variable to analyze the effect of land use on travel behavior: A structural equation modeling approach," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 23-28.
    6. He, Sylvia Y. & Cheung, Yannie H.Y. & Tao, Sui, 2018. "Travel mobility and social participation among older people in a transit metropolis: A socio-spatial-temporal perspective," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 608-626.
    7. Dillon, Harya S. & Saphores, Jean-Daniel & Boarnet, Marlon G., 2015. "The impact of urban form and gasoline prices on vehicle usage: Evidence from the 2009 National Household Travel Survey," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 23-33.
    8. Ryan, Jean & Wretstrand, Anders & Schmidt, Steven M., 2015. "Exploring public transport as an element of older persons' mobility: A Capability Approach perspective," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 105-114.
    9. François Des Rosiers & Marius Thériault & Gjin Biba & Marie-Hélène Vandersmissen, 2017. "Greenhouse gas emissions and urban form: Linking households’ socio-economic status with housing and transportation choices," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 44(5), pages 964-985, September.
    10. Ding, Chuan & Wang, Donggen & Liu, Chao & Zhang, Yi & Yang, Jiawen, 2017. "Exploring the influence of built environment on travel mode choice considering the mediating effects of car ownership and travel distance," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 65-80.
    11. Guan, Xiaodong & Wang, Donggen, 2019. "Influences of the built environment on travel: A household-based perspective," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 710-724.
    12. Erick Guerra & Shengxiao Li & Ariadna Reyes, 2022. "How do low-income commuters get to work in US and Mexican cities? A comparative empirical assessment," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 59(1), pages 75-96, January.
    13. Kaniz Fatima & Sara Moridpour & Tayebeh Saghapour, 2021. "Spatial and Temporal Distribution of Elderly Public Transport Mode Preference," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-15, April.
    14. Van Acker, Veronique & Mokhtarian, Patricia L. & Witlox, Frank, 2014. "Car availability explained by the structural relationships between lifestyles, residential location, and underlying residential and travel attitudes," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 88-99.
    15. Van Acker, Véronique & Mulley, Corinne & Ho, Loan, 2019. "Impact of childhood experiences on public transport travel behaviour," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 783-798.
    16. Cao, Xinyu & Mokhtarian, Patricia & Handy, Susan, 2008. "Examining The Impacts of Residential Self-Selection on Travel Behavior: Methodologies and Empirical Findings," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt08x1k476, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.
    17. Arefeh Nasri & Carlos Carrion & Lei Zhang & Babak Baghaei, 2020. "Using propensity score matching technique to address self-selection in transit-oriented development (TOD) areas," Transportation, Springer, vol. 47(1), pages 359-371, February.
    18. Lars Böcker & Patrick Amen & Marco Helbich, 2017. "Elderly travel frequencies and transport mode choices in Greater Rotterdam, the Netherlands," Transportation, Springer, vol. 44(4), pages 831-852, July.
    19. Md. Kamruzzaman & Simon Washington & Douglas Baker & Wendy Brown & Billie Giles-Corti & Gavin Turrell, 2016. "Built environment impacts on walking for transport in Brisbane, Australia," Transportation, Springer, vol. 43(1), pages 53-77, January.
    20. Lin, Tao & Wang, Donggen & Guan, Xiaodong, 2017. "The built environment, travel attitude, and travel behavior: Residential self-selection or residential determination?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 111-122.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:154:y:2021:i:c:p:203-226. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/547/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.