The Transportation Needs of Seniors in Hennepin County, Minnesota

18 Pages Posted: 19 Jan 2011

See all articles by Rania Wasfi

Rania Wasfi

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

David Matthew Levinson

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Ahmed M. El-Geneidy

McGill University

Date Written: May 1, 2007

Abstract

In the year 2000 Over 208,000 residents of Hennepin County, Minnesota were over the age of 55, a number that is sure to rise. This paper reports the major findings from a study conducted to assess the transportation needs of seniors residing or working in Hennepin County. The assessment is done through a mail out mail back survey, which contained questions to asking seniors about their existing travel behavior and unmet transportation needs. The survey had both demographic and attitudinal questions as well as a travel diary for recording actual trips and desired but untaken trips. The survey revealed that 87 percent of the surveyed seniors are independent travelers. Meanwhile 51 percent of the surveyed seniors are transit users, while 25 percent of them revealed their concerns about difficulties they are facing when using public transit. It was also noticed that 16 percent of transit users are concerned about waiting time, while only 8 percent are concerned about travel time. Only 15 percent of the surveyed population use paratransit (dial-a-ride service). A large number of comments were received, which add a qualitative flavor to the analysis. A major finding of this study is that the surveyed seniors use transit more than the regular population. Also the majority of the surveyed population recognizes that even if they are currently independent, that will not always be the case, and acknowledge they should plan, yet their knowledge of the services available to them is limited.

Keywords: Transportation needs, Older People, Seniors, Disadvantaged Populations

JEL Classification: J14, R40, R41

Suggested Citation

Wasfi, Rania and Levinson, David Matthew and El-Geneidy, Ahmed M., The Transportation Needs of Seniors in Hennepin County, Minnesota (May 1, 2007). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1743598 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1743598

Rania Wasfi

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities ( email )

420 Delaware St. SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455
United States

David Matthew Levinson (Contact Author)

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Ahmed M. El-Geneidy

McGill University ( email )

1001 Sherbrooke St. W
Montreal, Quebec H3A 1G5
Canada

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