IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v20y2023i3p2720-d1056608.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Transport, Mobility and the Wellbeing of Older Adults: An Exploration of Private Chauffeuring and Companionship Services in Malaysia

Author

Listed:
  • Abdul Rais Abdul Latiff

    (School of Social Sciences & USM Initiatives on Ageing (USIA) Research Cluster, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Gelugor 11800, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia)

  • Saidatulakmal Mohd

    (School of Social Sciences & USM Initiatives on Ageing (USIA) Research Cluster, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Gelugor 11800, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia)

Abstract

As physical abilities and health decline with age, older adults tend to lose their driving abilities, which affects their mobility. As mobility is important to older adults’ wellbeing, there is a need to explore alternative modes of transportation to increase their ability to actively participate in society. Hence, this paper aims to understand the characteristics of private chauffeuring and companionship services for older adults, and to assess their possible effects on older adults’ wellbeing. We gathered the views of transport operators, government agencies, and city councils that offer private chauffeuring and companionship services for older adults. We frame the model of private chauffeuring and companionship services as alternative mobility for older adults and outline a conceptual framework for its possible effects on their wellbeing. The underlying mobility characteristics were availability, accessibility, safety, and affordability—all of which influence wellbeing. The study found that the private chauffeuring and companionship model for older adults includes an additional model of government-to-consumer services in addition to the existing peer-to-peer and business-to-consumer services. While the services are available, the services provided are not standardized, with different operators offering different services and prices, and limiting certain geographical areas. Transport operators perceived that the services they offer promote older adults’ physical and mental health, improve their social participation in the community, and empower them in making their travel decisions. The findings of the paper provide insights for policy makers for future planning of alternative transportation for older adults to enhance their mobility.

Suggested Citation

  • Abdul Rais Abdul Latiff & Saidatulakmal Mohd, 2023. "Transport, Mobility and the Wellbeing of Older Adults: An Exploration of Private Chauffeuring and Companionship Services in Malaysia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-17, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:3:p:2720-:d:1056608
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/3/2720/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/3/2720/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andrew Schouten & Martin Wachs & Evelyn A. Blumenberg & Hannah R. King, 2022. "Cohort analysis of driving cessation and limitation among older adults," Transportation, Springer, vol. 49(3), pages 841-865, June.
    2. Shaheen, Susan PhD & Martin, Elliot Phd & Bansal, Apaar, 2018. "Peer-To-Peer (P2P) Carsharing: Understanding Early Markets, Social Dynamics, and Behavioral Impacts," Institute of Transportation Studies, Research Reports, Working Papers, Proceedings qt7s8207tb, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Berkeley.
    3. Rosenbloom, Sandra, 2010. "How adult children in the UK and the US view the driving cessation of their parents: Is a policy window opening?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 18(5), pages 634-641.
    4. Hughes, Ryan & MacKenzie, Don, 2016. "Transportation network company wait times in Greater Seattle, and relationship to socioeconomic indicators," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 36-44.
    5. JinHyo Joseph Yun & Xiaofei Zhao & Jinxi Wu & John C. Yi & KyungBae Park & WooYoung Jung, 2020. "Business Model, Open Innovation, and Sustainability in Car Sharing Industry—Comparing Three Economies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-27, March.
    6. Merfeld, Katrin & Wilhelms, Mark-Philipp & Henkel, Sven & Kreutzer, Karin, 2019. "Carsharing with shared autonomous vehicles: Uncovering drivers, barriers and future developments – A four-stage Delphi study," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 66-81.
    7. Prieto, Marc & Baltas, George & Stan, Valentina, 2017. "Car sharing adoption intention in urban areas: What are the key sociodemographic drivers?," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 218-227.
    8. Dong Lin & Jianqiang Cui, 2021. "Transport and Mobility Needs for an Ageing Society from a Policy Perspective: Review and Implications," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(22), pages 1-16, November.
    9. Fleura Bardhi & Giana M. Eckhardt, 2012. "Access-Based Consumption: The Case of Car Sharing," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 39(4), pages 881-898.
    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. Susanne Nordbakke & Tim Schwanen, 2014. "Well-being and Mobility: A Theoretical Framework and Literature Review Focusing on Older People," Mobilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(1), pages 104-129, February.
    12. Metz, D. H., 2000. "Mobility of older people and their quality of life," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 149-152, April.
    13. 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.
    14. Wong, R.C.P. & Szeto, W.Y. & Yang, Linchuan & Li, Y.C. & Wong, S.C., 2018. "Public transport policy measures for improving elderly mobility," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 73-79.
    15. Anne Brown, 2019. "Redefining Car Access," Journal of the American Planning Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 85(2), pages 83-95, April.
    16. Lagadic, Marion & Verloes, Alia & Louvet, Nicolas, 2019. "Can carsharing services be profitable? A critical review of established and developing business models," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 68-78.
    17. 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.
    18. Boschmann, E. Eric & Brady, Sylvia A., 2013. "Travel behaviors, sustainable mobility, and transit-oriented developments: a travel counts analysis of older adults in the Denver, Colorado metropolitan area," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 1-11.
    19. Dowling, Robyn & Kent, Jennifer, 2015. "Practice and public–private partnerships in sustainable transport governance: The case of car sharing in Sydney, Australia," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 58-64.
    20. Kwang-Sub Lee & Jin Ki Eom & Jun Lee & Sangpil Ko, 2021. "Analysis of the Activity and Travel Patterns of the Elderly Using Mobile Phone-Based Hourly Locational Trajectory Data: Case Study of Gangnam, Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-23, March.
    21. Jingxu Lan & Yang Xue & Dewei Fang & Qian Zheng, 2022. "Optimal Strategies for Elderly Public Transport Service Based on Impact-Asymmetry Analysis: A Case Study of Harbin," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-13, January.
    22. Glasgow, Nina, 2000. "Older Americans' Patterns of Driving and Using Other Transportation," Rural America/ Rural Development Perspectives, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, vol. 15(3), September.
    23. Alejandro Henao & Wesley E. Marshall, 2019. "The impact of ride-hailing on vehicle miles traveled," Transportation, Springer, vol. 46(6), pages 2173-2194, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Dou, Xianchen & Jian, Meiying & Guo, Chen & Cao, JinXin, 2023. "Estimation of the aggregation degree of public transport use among elderly people based on urban built environment," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    2. Shao, Fengjing & Sui, Yi & Yu, Xiang & Sun, Rencheng, 2019. "Spatio-temporal travel patterns of elderly people – A comparative study based on buses usage in Qingdao, China," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 178-190.
    3. Katrin Lättman & Lars E. Olsson & Margareta Friman & Satoshi Fujii, 2019. "Perceived Accessibility, Satisfaction with Daily Travel, and Life Satisfaction among the Elderly," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-15, November.
    4. 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.
    5. Dong Lin & Jianqiang Cui, 2021. "Transport and Mobility Needs for an Ageing Society from a Policy Perspective: Review and Implications," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(22), pages 1-16, November.
    6. Zou, Zhenpeng & Cirillo, Cinzia, 2021. "Does ridesourcing impact driving decisions: A survey weighted regression analysis," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 1-12.
    7. Yang, Linchuan & Ao, Yibin & Ke, Jintao & Lu, Yi & Liang, Yuan, 2021. "To walk or not to walk? Examining non-linear effects of streetscape greenery on walking propensity of older adults," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    8. Liu, Qiyang & Liu, Yang & Zhang, Chi & An, Zihao & Zhao, Pengjun, 2021. "Elderly mobility during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative exploration in Kunming, China," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    9. Yang, Yongjiang & Sasaki, Kuniaki & Cheng, Long & Tao, Sui, 2022. "Does the built environment matter for active travel among older adults: Insights from Chiba City, Japan," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    10. Brown, Anne, 2022. "Not all fees are created equal: Equity implications of ride-hail fee structures and revenues," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 1-10.
    11. 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.
    12. Wong, R.C.P. & Yang, Linchuan & Szeto, W.Y. & Li, Y.C. & Wong, S.C., 2020. "The effects of accessible taxi service and taxi fare subsidy scheme on the elderly's willingness-to-travel," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 129-136.
    13. Marie Briguglio & Glenn Formosa, 2023. "Sharing Is Caring: An Economic Analysis of Consumer Engagement in an Electric Vehicle Sharing Service," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-15, March.
    14. Ward, Chandra & Walsh, Darrell, 2023. "“I just don't go nowhere:” How transportation disadvantage reinforces social exclusion," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    15. 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.
    16. Claudia Burlando & Enrico Ivaldi & Andrea Ciacci, 2021. "Seniors’ Mobility and Perceptions in Different Urban Neighbourhoods: A Non-Aggregative Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-23, June.
    17. Olaru, Doina & Greaves, Stephen & Leighton, Catherine & Smith, Brett & Arnold, Tony, 2021. "Peer-to-Peer (P2P) carsharing and driverless vehicles: Attitudes and values of vehicle owners," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 180-194.
    18. Blumenberg, Evelyn & Paul, Julene & Pierce, Gregory, 2021. "Travel in the digital age: Vehicle ownership and technology-facilitated accessibility," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 86-94.
    19. Wells, Peter & Wang, Xiaobei & Wang, Liqiao & Liu, Haokun & Orsato, Renato, 2020. "More friends than foes? The impact of automobility-as-a-service on the incumbent automotive industry," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    20. Villena-Sanchez, Jessica & Boschmann, E. Eric & Avila-Forcada, Sara, 2022. "Daily travel behaviors and transport mode choice of older adults in Mexico City," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).

    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:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:3:p:2720-:d:1056608. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.