TY - JOUR
T1 - Understanding the travel challenges and gaps for older adults during the COVID-19 outbreak
T2 - Insights from the New York City area
AU - Gao, Jingqin
AU - Lee, Change Dae
AU - Ozbay, Kaan
AU - Zuo, Fan
AU - Chippendale, Tracy L.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Connected Cities for Smart Mobility towards Accessible and Resilient Transportation (C2SMART) Center awarded by the U.S. Department of Transportation under the University Transportation Centers Program [grant numbers 69A3351747124] and Paralyzed Veterans of America.
Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Connected Cities for Smart Mobility towards Accessible and Resilient Transportation (C2SMART), a Tier 1 U.S. Department of Transportation funded University Transportation Center (UTC) led by New York University. This study is reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at New York University (IRB-FY2020-4491). The authors acknowledge the help from New York Metropolitan Transportation Council (NYMTC), the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), and NYU Rudin Center for Transportation for survey distribution. The contents of this paper only reflect the views of the authors who are responsible for the facts and do not represent any official views of any sponsoring organizations or agencies. This work was supported by the Connected Cities for Smart Mobility towards Accessible and Resilient Transportation (C2SMART) Center awarded by the U.S. Department of Transportation under the University Transportation Centers Program [grant numbers 69A3351747124] and Paralyzed Veterans of America.
Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Connected Cities for Smart Mobility towards Accessible and Resilient Transportation (C2SMART), a Tier 1 U.S. Department of Transportation funded University Transportation Center (UTC) led by New York University. This study is reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at New York University (IRB-FY2020-4491). The authors acknowledge the help from New York Metropolitan Transportation Council (NYMTC), the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), and NYU Rudin Center for Transportation for survey distribution. The contents of this paper only reflect the views of the authors who are responsible for the facts and do not represent any official views of any sponsoring organizations or agencies.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors
PY - 2023/5
Y1 - 2023/5
N2 - The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted lifestyles and travel patterns, revealing existing societal and transportation gaps and introducing new challenges. In the context of an aging population, this study investigated how the travel behaviors of older adults (aged 60+) in New York City were affected by COVID-19, using an online survey and analyzing younger adult (aged 18–59) data for comparative analysis. The purpose of the study is to understand the pandemic's effects on older adults’ travel purpose and frequency, challenges faced during essential trips, and to identify potential policies to enhance their mobility during future crises. Descriptive analysis and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used to summarize the changes in employment status, trip purposes, transportation mode usage, and attitude regarding transportation systems before and during the outbreak and after the travel restrictions were lifted. A Natural Language Processing model, Gibbs Sampling Dirichlet Multinomial Mixture, was adopted to open-ended questions due to its advantage in extracting information from short text. The findings show differences between older and younger adults in telework and increased essential-purpose trips (e.g., medical visits) for older adults. The pandemic increased older adults’ concern about health, safety, comfort, prices when choosing travel mode, leading to reduced transit use and walking, increased driving, and limited bike use. To reduce travel burdens and maintain older adults' employment, targeted programs improving digital skills (telework, telehealth, telemedicine) are recommended. Additionally, safe, affordable, and accessible transportation alternatives are necessary to ensure mobility and essential trips for older adults, along with facilitation of walkable communities.
AB - The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted lifestyles and travel patterns, revealing existing societal and transportation gaps and introducing new challenges. In the context of an aging population, this study investigated how the travel behaviors of older adults (aged 60+) in New York City were affected by COVID-19, using an online survey and analyzing younger adult (aged 18–59) data for comparative analysis. The purpose of the study is to understand the pandemic's effects on older adults’ travel purpose and frequency, challenges faced during essential trips, and to identify potential policies to enhance their mobility during future crises. Descriptive analysis and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used to summarize the changes in employment status, trip purposes, transportation mode usage, and attitude regarding transportation systems before and during the outbreak and after the travel restrictions were lifted. A Natural Language Processing model, Gibbs Sampling Dirichlet Multinomial Mixture, was adopted to open-ended questions due to its advantage in extracting information from short text. The findings show differences between older and younger adults in telework and increased essential-purpose trips (e.g., medical visits) for older adults. The pandemic increased older adults’ concern about health, safety, comfort, prices when choosing travel mode, leading to reduced transit use and walking, increased driving, and limited bike use. To reduce travel burdens and maintain older adults' employment, targeted programs improving digital skills (telework, telehealth, telemedicine) are recommended. Additionally, safe, affordable, and accessible transportation alternatives are necessary to ensure mobility and essential trips for older adults, along with facilitation of walkable communities.
KW - Coronavirus disease-19
KW - Elderly
KW - Gibbs sampling Dirichlet multinomial mixture
KW - Mobility Survey
KW - Topic modeling
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85151829153&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85151829153&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.trip.2023.100815
DO - 10.1016/j.trip.2023.100815
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85151829153
SN - 2590-1982
VL - 19
JO - Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives
JF - Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives
M1 - 100815
ER -