Traffic and Transport for an Ageing
Society
Dr. Charles Musselwhite
Reader (Associate Professor), Swansea University
Room 309 Vivian Tower Email: c.b.a.musselwhite@swansea.ac.uk
1
2
Overview
Are older drivers safe on our roads?
Do we need to test them further?
How safe is the walking environment
How can we improve it?
Are buses good for our health?
Is it worth investing in a free bus pass for older people?
Conclusion
Mobility and health and wellbeing
 Being mobile in old age is linked to quality of life
(Schlag et al. ,1996).
 In particular, giving up driving has repeatedly
been shown to related to
– a decrease in wellbeing
– an increase in depression and related health
problems,
– feelings of stress, Isolation and
– increased mortality
– (Edwards et al., 2009;Fonda et al., 2001;
Ling and Mannion, 1995; Marottoli, 2000;
Marottoli et al., 1997; Mezuk and Rebok,
2008; Musselwhite and Haddad, 2010;
Musselwhite and Shergold, 2013; Peel et al.,
2001; Ragland et al., 2005 Windsor et al.
2007; Zieglar and Schwannen. 2013).
 Ex-drivers who depend on others for a lift nearly
twice as likely to go into long-term care, as
compared with older people who were still
driving (Marottoli, 2000).
4
 Are older drivers safe on the roads?
 What physiological changes happen in later life that might
influence driving behaviour?
 Might they result in crashes?
5
Physiological changes
 increased fatigue;
 poorer reactions
– (for example, on average, drivers over 55 take 22% longer to react than
drivers under the age of 30 years) (DfT, 2001);
 difficulty with glare and luminance
– (average recovery time from glare, from lights from other vehicles or low
sun for example, at age 16 is 2 seconds whereas at age 65 is 9 seconds
and 75 year old driver requires 32 times the brightness to be able to see
the same scene they did at age 25) (DfT, 2001) and;
 difficulty keeping a consistent constant speed
– (difficulty in detecting changes in feedback from the vehicle speed and
difficulty in keeping foot pressed to the floor in the same position for long
periods of time) (Musselwhite and Haddad, 2010).
6
Types of collision
 Clarke et al. (2009) reviewed STATS19 data (police onscene incident record) and found older drivers are over
represented in collisions:
– at Junctions;
– in merging traffic;
– with right-hand turns (when driving on the right-hand side
of the road) and;
– in busy traffic (see Clarke et al., 2009 for review)
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Increase in KSI 75+
8
Frailty?
9
Low miles
 Private transport is embedded in the socio-political fabric of
capitalism
 Over reliance on statistical analysis driven by those who have
most to benefit force hyper-mobility through reductionalist
modernist principals.
 Building has created more demand, more desire to use.
 Costs are forced onto the users (and non-users) and away
from business and organisations as businesses conglomerate
and maximise profits (savings of money).
 Disproportionate costs between winners and losers (white
motorways through black bedrooms -Mugyeni and Engler,
2011)
 At the expense of individualism, humanism, society,
community, health, safety and beauty.
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Responsibility
11
Compensation
 Drive slower
 Take breaks
 driving when conditions suit them
–
–
–
–
–
low sun
heavy rain
Snow and ice
dark
rush-hour
 acquiring vehicles to suit their needs (tall vehicles, with much vision, stiff
ride with noticeable feedback and buying vehicle with power steering,
automatic gears)
 Avoid roads they feel uncomfortable with
– not using motorways (largely due to the merging traffic)
– not taking difficult turns across traffic,
(Baldock et al., 2006; Holland, 2001; Musselwhite and Haddad, 2010; Musselwhite and
Shergold, 2013; Rabbitt et al., 1996; Rabbitt and Parker, 2002).
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 But do they know what their problems are?
 How self-aware are they as drivers?
13
 But do they know what their problems are?
 How self-aware are they as drivers?
 Charlton, et al. (2001) Cushman (1996) and Marottoli and
Richardson (1998) suggest older people are not very good
at judging their own ability; they may generically feel
more vulnerable but this does not equate well to actual
driver ability (Rabbitt et al., 1996).
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 Should we give older drivers extra testing of their ability?
15
Evidence
Grabowski et al
(2004)
USA –
Langford et al (2008)
Victoria (no age controls) No sig diffs for older or other
and
road users
New South Wales
(medical assessment 80+
and on road test 85+)
Mitchell (2008)
Siren and Meng
(2012)
Langford et al.,
(2004).
Across Europe
Vision tests, road tests, more
frequent licence renewals, in
person renewals no difference
lowest fatality rates for this age
group occur in two of the
countries (UK and the
Netherlands) with more relaxed
procedures
introduction of agebased cognitive
screening starting from
the age of 70 in
Denmark in May 2006,
in a population-based
study.
Whilst collision rates for car
drivers did not significantly
change across any age group.
the collision rate for older
vulnerable road users in the
post-implementation period
increased significantly: by 38%.
In Sydney (where there
is mandatory assessment
from 80 years onwards)
and Melbourne (in which
there are no age-based
controls)
older drivers in Sydney (with
age-based controls) had higher
collision risks per licence and
per times spent driving than
those in Melbourne (who had
no controls).
Positive results: Eye test
– Levy et al (1995)
(across US states)
– McGwin et al
(2008) (Florida)
 Restrict licence
– Nasvadi and Wister
(2009) – British
Columbia
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Improving active
travel
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Problems with being a pedestrian
 Older people represent around 16% of the population, yet around
43% of all pedestrians killed (DfT, 2009).
 Changes in physiology: slower movements, less able to change gait,
poorer eyesight, lack of confidence (esp in light of previous falls
(see Dunbar et al., 2004 for review).
 Older people report issues with being a pedestrian
– lack of time to cross the road at formal crossings, 85% of men and
91% of females don’t walk at required 1.2m/s as per DfT guidance
(Musselwhite, 2015)
– cracked or uneven pavements or kerbs at formal and informal
crossings,
– poor quality paths,
– lack of amenities (especially benches and toilets), and unattractive,
unwelcoming and inapproachable spaces (see Alves et al., 2008;
IDGO, 2013, Musselwhite, 2011).
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 If we reduce pedestrian and
cycling casualties there are
wider benefits to active
travel
 Encouraging local
community – roads create
hypermobility and severance
of communities
 Physical and mental health
benefits of active travel
Implications for health
Fewer people walking and cycling which
is vital for health
 Created an “obesogenic” environment (Roberts and Edwards 2010) with fewer and fewer
people walking.
 Walking can also improve mental health and well-being, by having a positive impact on
self-esteem, physical self-worth (McAuley et al., 2000), stress, mood and mindset (Roe
and Aspinall, 2011).
19
20
Building roads
creates
Severance
21
16
Appleyard and Lintell (1972)
studied three San Francisco
streets with different levels of
road traffic and asked
residents about the number of
friends and acquaintances they
had on street
22
Hart, J. (2008).
Driven to Excess.
Masters thesis.
University of the
West of England
http://www.walk21.
com/papers/Josua_
Hart.pdf
23
Hart, J. (2008).
Driven to Excess.
Masters thesis.
University of the
West of England
http://www.walk21.
com/papers/Josua_
Hart.pdf
24
Hart, J. (2008). Driven to Excess. Masters thesis. University of the West of England http://www.walk21.com/papers/Josua_Hart.pdf
25
How do we do it?
 Emphasis on improving environment
 Human/social approach to streets
– Places in themselves not movement corridors
 Use CABE guidelines?
Improving the streets
Leading to:
Time to share the streets?
27
Improving the streets as places
 “People have always lived on streets. They have been the places where
children first learned about the world, where neighbors met, the social
centers of towns and cities, the rallying points for revolts, the scenes of
repression... The street has always been the scene of this conflict,
between living and access, between resident and traveler, between
street life and the threat of death.”
– Donald Appleyard
“The balance is lost. Streets are now traffic corridors, literally
cutting swathes through local communities. Official attention is
concentrated on passing traffic, not local lives. Streets have
become dirty and dangerous. Communities everywhere are
affected, but more seriously in towns and cities and in lowincome areas.”
Living Streets manifesto at
http://www.livingstreets.org.uk/manifesto.htm
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Streets used to be about...







Home
Exchange
Learning
Localness and distinctness
Democracy
Diversity and spontaneity
Social levelling, variance and mixing
 They were “rooms” to spend time in not “corridors” for movement

Over
time
changes
in
philosophy
1930s: Super segregation proposed
 1950s-1970s: Segregation but hierarchical
 1980/90s: Traffic calming
 Early 2000s: Home Zones
 Mid 2000s: Naked streets
 Late 2000s: Shared Space
 Late 2000s: DIY Streets
 Future: David Engwicht?
 Quality Streets?
Nudge: changing
infrastructure to encourage
behaviour change
30
An example of
NUDGE
Nudge: changing
infrastructure to encourage
behaviour change
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lXh2n0aPyw
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33
Nudge: On the streets
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iynzHWwJXaA
Quality of the urban environment
•What do we
mean by each
of these?
•Do they
influence travel
behaviour and
modal choice?
35

Character – streets should have character and
reflect local identify, history and culture. Utilising
local art and architecture can help enhance distinct
and unique character and identity.

Continuity and enclosure - where public and
private spaces are easily distinguished.

A quality public realm – good quality materials,
easily maintained and replaced.

Ease of movement - should be enhanced for all
users, along with permission to stop and dwell
through benches and places to lean and creating
focal points to commune at including fountains,
works of art, sculptures, memorials or trees, gardens
and other greenery.

Legibility – area should be designed in a way that is
easy to understand and interpret, not just with
signage but with other visual and tactile cues as well
to help determine legitimacy in activity and
determine use.

Adaptability –The place should be built to adapt to
changes in the needs of users, policy and legislation
over time.

Diversity and choice – Allowing area to be used by
a large variety of individuals and uses, with minimum
exclusion.
36
Improving the urban
environment
37
1. Lack of nuisance
 Anti-social behaviour: decreasing levels of nuisance and addressing perceptions of nuisance, e.g. where
groups of young people are perceived as threatening, can make a difference.
 Vandalism: open spaces should be free from graffiti as this is a deterrent to the pursuit of outdoor activities.
 Litter and rubbish: the condition of the environment in terms of maintenance was a main concern for
participants, suggesting that poor maintenance can decrease use of open spaces.
2. Quality paths
 Barrier-free paths: our findings suggest that walking is the prevalent form of transport for older people, so it
is crucial that paths leading to/from open spaces and key destinations be wide, smooth and free from
obstacles.
3. Good facilities
 Furnished open spaces: the presence of seats, toilets, cafes and shelters were predictors of the time
participants spend outdoors and can significantly increase the incentive for undertaking outdoor activities.
4. Neighbourhood aesthetics
 Water features: attractive features in nearby outdoor spaces, such as a fountain or a lakeside, may entice
older people to use them more frequently.
 Quality of trees and plants: these elements are an important part of pleasant outdoor space and were
associated with significantly more time spent outdoors by participants, as well as being conducive to
recreational walking.

Alves, S., Aspinall, P., Ward Thompson, C., Sugiyama, T., Brice, R. and Vickers, A. 2008. Preferences of Older People for Environmental Attributes of
Local Parks: The Use of Choice-Based Conjoint Analysis. Facilities 26 (11/ 12), 433-453.
Make a more pleasant walking
environment
 Quality environment
– Local materials = sense
of place
– Local art, attention to
detail
– Involvement of locals =
ownership by locals
– Quality street furniture
 Good upkeep
38
Make a more pleasant walking
environment
 Emphasise personal
safety
– Tress not shrubs
– CCTV?
 Increase permission to
dwell
–
–
–
–
–
Benches
Public toilets
Fountains
Artwork
Squares/places/shops
spill onto pavement
39
Make a more pleasant walking
environment
 Desire lines and
connections
– Reduce segregation
– Formal crossings on
informal lines
 Provide information
– Out and about
– Before hand
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 Improving buses for older people
42
Importance of buses
for older people
43
Bus use and health
 9.7million older and disabled concessionary travel passes were in use in
England in 2013/4 (8.8 million or 91% of these are for older people).
 Just over 1billion concessionary passenger journeys on buses in England in
2013/4.
 Free bus use is a social leveller – more likley to be used by those on lower
income (82% use for those on £15k less/year) Scott and Humphrey (2012)
 Free travel equates to more bus use for older people (see Mackett, 2013a
for review).
 The journeys made are not just more numerous but also often longer in
duration and distance (Andrews, 2011 ; Passenger Focus, 2009).
 Free bus pass improves quality of life (Andrews , 2011; Rye and Myuka,
2009)
 Improves physical health (walking either end, get out and about more)
– Webb et al., 2013 cite bus use as a protective factor against obesity.
44
Free bus pass worth

A recent report by Greener Travel (2014) in conjunction with KPMG LLP used Department
for Transport guidance on economic appraisal and found for every £1 spent on the free
bus pass for older people, £2.87 is returned to the economy. They broke the benefits
into:-

Impacts for concessionary bus passengers
–
–
–
greater freedom to access services and activities
service frequency enhancements arising from the additional capacity required to carry
increased
the added convenience of smart and integrated ticketing.

Impacts for other bus users and other road users

Wider economic benefits

Health and wellbeing benefits
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Faster boarding times, with older people not having to pay
Keeps services going that would otherwise cease, extending value to paying customers too
Reduction in cars driven (and associated reduction in congestion, pollution and collisions)
formal and informal voluntary work can be continued
social care and child care activities. The formula uses Royal Voluntary Service estimates that
people participating in voluntary work, social care and child care is £10 billion, £34 billion
and £3 billion respectively (RVS, 2011)
Increased physical activity
Social inclusion, mental health and wellbeing benefits are noted as important but not
included in the final figure due to difficulties in quantification.
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Formal information
Alternative transport provided locally
Barriers to use
Timetable of buses
Location of bus stops
Walking area
Real time information
Informal information
Does the bus leave when it says it does?
Ease of carrying shopping/luggage on a
bus?
Ease of getting a seat on a bus?
State of the pavements for walking?
Provision of benches, formalised crossing
areas, toilets etc.
Feeling of safety using transport/walking?
Attitude of bus driver
Information barriers to bus use for over
65s’ (after Musselwhite and Haddad,
2007)
Ten most frequent barriers for respondents aged over 70 years, with
the proportion of that age-group who reported each as a ‘problem’
(after Gilhooly, et al. 2002)
46
Improving bus use
Broome et al (2013) looked at how to improve services and overcome barriers for older
people using buses in Queensland, Australia, using Brisbane as a control. Seven priorities
were implemented:1.
Accessibility, for example low floor buses to make boarding and alighting easier

2.
Age friendly training for bus drivers (see also Broome 2010). This is also being rolled out
across all 24,500 bus drivers in London by 2016 (see TfL, 2013)
3.
Frequent buses and a call for evening and weekend services in particular.
4.
Bus stops close to homes and destinations. Broome et al (2013) suggest a system
should aim to stop within 200m of residences and destinations. Bus stops need to be of
good quality too; they should provide shelter and aid boarding and alighting.
5.
Accessible pedestrian infrastructure is important, footpaths and pedestrian crossing are
part of the journey too.
6.
Providing training and information for older people about how to use buses. However,
bus buddy scheme has low uptake and knowledge and satisfaction declined. Alternative
approaches are suggested such as more generic training of alternative modes associated
with a programme of giving-up driving as suggested by Liddle et al. (2006) and
Musselwhite (2010).
7.
Bus systems need to provide access to destinations of interest to older people
themselves and Broome et al. (2013) propose that older people should be more involved
in design of routes
Cars aim at secondary and tertiary
Mobility Needs
Is there a change?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snKbU5r
0pBo&feature=plcp
48
49
Conclusions
50
Conclusions 1
 Relatively safe as drivers
– Self regulation is crucial
– How to encourage this?
 Walking
– Do not cater for older people’s needs and issues very well
– Need to improve and make areas more desirable
 Bus
– Free bus travel equates with health and wellbeing
– Has high return on investment
– But future bus cuts??
References

Interesting further reading
Clarke, D. D., Ward, P., Truman, W., & Bartle, C. (2009) Collisions involving older drivers: An in-depth study. London,
Department for Transport

Mackett, R. (2013a). The impact of concessionary bus travel on the wellbeing of older and disabled people. Paper
presented at the Transportation Research Board 92nd Annual Meeting, Washington DC, 13-17 January.
Transportation Research Record, 2352, pages 114-119.

Musselwhite, C. and Haddad, H. (2010). Mobility, accessibility and quality of later life. Quality in Ageing and Older
Adults. 11(1), 25-37

Musselwhite, C. (2011) Successfully giving up driving for older people. Discussion Paper. International Longevity
Centre – UK

Sinnett, D., Williams, K., Chatterjee, K. and Cavill, N. (2011) Making the case for investment in the walking
environment: A review of the evidence. Technical Report. Living Streets, London. Found via
http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/15502/

Siren, A. and Haustein, S. (in press) Driving licences and medical screening in old age. Review of literature and
European licensing policies. Journal of Transport & Health.

Space between buildings film:- https://archive.org/details/SmallUrbanSpaces

Vanderbilt, T. (2008). Traffic. London: Penguin7

Webb, E., Netuveli, G., & Millett, C. (2012). Free bus passes, use of public transport and obesity among older people
in England. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 66(2), 176-180.