- By 2030, the number of drivers over 65 is expected to double to 60 million.
- Fifty-six percent of seniors live outside city centers in the suburbs, areas often underserved by public transportation.
- The highway fatality rate has increased 33 percent for seniors in the past decade, even though it has fallen nearly 10 percent overall. By 2030, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety estimates, those 65 and older will account for 25% of traffic deaths.
 A national study by the AARP shows that more than half of all non-drivers age 65 and over stay at home on a given day, many because of limited transportation options. As people grow older, they often become less willing or able to drive, making it necessary to depend on alternative methods of transportation.
Unfortunately, alternative transportation choices for the elderly are often very limited. Many places seniors want to go are too far to walk, taxis are expensive, and in many areas transit or specialized transportation services are limited.
How will a growing number of older Americans get where they need to go?
Where do the elderly live in the Baltimore region? Do they have access to public transit or other alternatives to driving?
These are just some of the issues that BMC has researched in an effort to assist transportation policy makers, human service providers, and the general public in understanding the complex travel needs of the region’s rapidly growing and increasingly dispersed elderly population. This research consists of two major studies.
1999 Baltimore Region Elderly Travel Study - This study explores the activity patterns and travel characteristics of the elderly in the Baltimore region. In addition, the study also documents the major causal factors which directly affect how, when, and where the elderly travel, including the pervasive influence of the in-place retirement phenomena on elderly travel behavior. This study was one of the first regional elderly travel studies in the United States. Its findings have been since been confirmed by other elderly travel studies.
 2004 Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities in the Baltimore Region - This study documents the distribution of the elderly population in the Baltimore region. The findings of this study show that the existing elderly population is widely scattered throughout low density suburban areas where public transportation service is not available and possibly not feasible. The study also documented that portions of the existing elderly population are concentrated in 29 population clusters throughout the region. These elderly population clusters could serve as the basis for planning transportation services to meet the travel needs of elderly residents that are no longer able to drive.
A summary version of these two studies is available in a paper titled “Summary of Findings Concerning Elderly Travel in the Baltimore Region” (pdf) which was prepared in conjunction with the 2005 White House Conference on Aging.
Learn more about Aging and Transportation
For more information:
Tyson Byrne, tbyrne@baltometro.org or 410-732-0500 x1048.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 16 July 2007 )
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