THE NONUTILIZATION OF SPECIAL TRANSPORT SERVICES BY THE ELDERLY IN URBAN AREAS: A CASE STUDY OF WASHINGTON, D.C. (FINAL REPORT)

This the final report of a research study that examines the demand side of special transportation services for the elderly in Washington, D.C., as well as the reasons why eligible elderly in urban areas do not utilize such services. The objectives of this research were: 1) to analyze reasons given by the elderly for not using available transportation services; 2) to determine the extent of use by the elderly; 3) to construct socioeconomic profiles of eligible elderly who do/do not utilize special transportation service; 4) to identify problems encountered by providers in reaching the elderly population; and 5) to formulate recommendations for solving the problems identified. Data collection and interviews for this case study focus on the city of Washington, D.C. According to the 1980 census report--16.2 percent (103,635) of the Washington, D.C. population are age 60 and over. The authors of this case study report state that: less than 15 percent of the urban elderly utilize the special transportation services; reasons given by the elderly users and nonusers are grouped in four categories--alternatives available, lack of information, service characteristics, and pride. This report provides a list of survey sites, interview forms used in the study, and a list of references.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • The report number for the Executive Summary of this study is UMTA-DC-11-0012-83-1, TRIS 378898.
• Corporate Authors:

  University of the District of Columbia

  Department of Community and Urban Planning
  Washington, DC  United States  20008

  Urban Mass Transportation Administration

  400 7th Street, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Lyons, D L
  • Lipowitz, I
• Publication Date: 1982-8

Media Info

• Pagination: 131 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Aged; Human factors; Marketing; Socioeconomic factors; Surveys; Travel demand
• Geographic Terms: Washington (District of Columbia)
• Subject Areas: Economics; Public Transportation; Safety and Human Factors; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00378899
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: UMTA-DC-11-0012-832 Final Rpt.
• Files: TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Oct 30 1983 12:00AM