1. Bureau of Transportation Statistics U.S. Department of Transportation Overall Travel Patterns of Older Americans Jeffery L. Memmott jeffery.memmott@bts.gov The analysis and results presented here are solely the authors and do not necessarily represent official policy of the Bureau of Transportation Statistics

2. Bureau of Transportation Statistics U.S. Department of Transportation 2001 National Household Transportation Survey A national survey of 60,000 individuals in 26,000 households Data collected from March 2001 to May 2002 Data collected for both Daily and Long- Distance Trips Weighted responses

3. Bureau of Transportation Statistics U.S. Department of Transportation NHTS Long-Distance Trips Trips over 50 miles to farthest destination Data collected for all trips during a specific 4-week period Each trip includes all segments of the trip, originating and ending at home

4. Bureau of Transportation Statistics U.S. Department of Transportation

5. Bureau of Transportation Statistics U.S. Department of Transportation Drivers make significantly more long-distance trips than non-drivers for all age groups Male drivers make more trips than female drivers for all age groups, though the gap narrows with the 75+ age group Conversely female non-drivers make about the same or slightly more trips than male non- drivers

6. Bureau of Transportation Statistics U.S. Department of Transportation

7. Bureau of Transportation Statistics U.S. Department of Transportation Personal vehicle is the dominant mode for long-distance trips, about 87% to 90% of all trips Bus use increases for higher age groups, from about 1% for the 25-54 age group, to about 6% for the 75+ age group The use of air travel does not vary much by age group

8. Bureau of Transportation Statistics U.S. Department of Transportation

9. Bureau of Transportation Statistics U.S. Department of Transportation Long distance commuting and business trips decline sharply at higher age groups Pleasure trips increase from about 46% in the 25-54 age group to about 66% in the 75+ age group Personal business trips also increase from about 10% in the 25-54 age group to about 25% in the 75+ age group

10. Bureau of Transportation Statistics U.S. Department of Transportation

11. Bureau of Transportation Statistics U.S. Department of Transportation There is very little change in distance traveled by different age groups The 65-74 age group shows the greatest variation, with somewhat fewer trips in the 50-99 mile category, and more trips in the 100-249 mile category The percentage of the longest trips (over a 1,000 miles) are very similar at about 6 to 7 percent of all trips for each age category

12. Bureau of Transportation Statistics U.S. Department of Transportation NHTS Daily Trips Data collected for all trips on one specified day Travel made from one address to another is reported as a separate trip Specific questions and probes were added to capture biking and walking trips, thought to be undercounted in previous surveys

13. Bureau of Transportation Statistics U.S. Department of Transportation

14. Bureau of Transportation Statistics U.S. Department of Transportation A significant narrowing of hours trips are taken occurs at higher age groups The percentage of trips taken between 9-12 am and 12-3 pm goes up at higher age groups, about 62% of all trips taken by the 75+ age group are taken during these hours Early morning and night time periods decline at higher age groups

15. Bureau of Transportation Statistics U.S. Department of Transportation

16. Bureau of Transportation Statistics U.S. Department of Transportation Mean number of trips decline at higher age groups Non-drivers take far fewer trips than drivers across all age groups, for example in the 85+ age group, drivers take an average of about 3 trips a day compared to about 1 trip a day for non-drivers Much smaller differences are observed between males and females

17. Bureau of Transportation Statistics U.S. Department of Transportation

18. Bureau of Transportation Statistics U.S. Department of Transportation Private vehicle is the dominant mode across all age groups, used in about 90% of all trips Multiple occupancy vehicles are used more frequently at higher age groups Transit use is very low, between 1% and 2% Walking trips make up about 8% to 9% of all trips, consistent over all age groups

19. Bureau of Transportation Statistics U.S. Department of Transportation

20. Bureau of Transportation Statistics U.S. Department of Transportation Family/personal and social/recreational trips represent about 87% to 90% of all trips for older Americans Church/school trips represent about an additional 5% to 6% of all trips for older Americans Work trips decline substantially at higher age groups, but do not disappear. About 2% to 6% of all trips by older Americans are work or work related trips