Active Aging

Walking as one means of active transportation has extra dimensions for older adults. Adequate lighting, lengthened timing for crossing signals, attention to grade changes (steps up and down), regular maintenance of sidewalks, benches along walking routes and at transit stops – are considerations important for increasing the desirability and frequency of walking for all citizens but more particularly for older adults

Transportation issues of older adults include reaction time and night vision. In a car-dependent community this can lead to isolation and depression. At the same time, many older adults are wary of public transit because of difficulties connecting to public transit from their neighborhoods or because of fears of crime or even unpleasant encounters.

The use of ride sharing increases after age 50 but formal ride sharing programs are scarce and liability concerns can complicate volunteer programs.

“ Indeed, those age 85+ are the fastest growing segment of our population. By 2030, one out of five people in America will be over 65.”
“What is the AdvantAge Initiative?” - http://www.vnsny.org/advantage/whatis.html

“Much like the U.S., Hampton Roads’ population 60 years and over will grow faster through 2025 than those below 60. In fact, the elderly population in Hampton Roads will grow faster than that of the U. S. as a whole.”
(Impact of Aging Hampton Roads Population. pg. 3, Hampton Roads Review, Hampton Roads Planning District Commission, Spring 2007)

“Promoting active aging depends on a community’s ability to provide safe and walkable streets, a range of transportation options, and land use patterns that permit easy access to services and amenities.” (Active Living for Older Adults, ICMA publication, September 2003)

“The Federal Highway Administration recommends assuming an average speed of 2.8 feet per second for older pedestrians (as compared to an average of 4 feet per second for all pedestrians).” (Active Living for Older Adults, ICMA publication, September 2003)

Tags: active aging | active transportation | older adults | Sidewalks | Walking

Active Aging - Resources

DESIGN GUIDELINES for a Lifespan Community
This booklet includes design principles to achieve the goal of designing for an “elder-friendly community.”

From DESIGN GUIDELINES for a Lifespan Community:

“The environment should be totally accessible while still being challenging:

Sidewalks to critical destinations especially should be smooth and barrier-free. Lighting should be keyed to critical corners and low to the sidewalk. Stores should be small and friendly. Entryways should be barrier-free with doors which are not too heavy. Traffic must be calmed on critical pedestrian pathways (to grocery, church, library, retail). There must be well-planned perches to rest; ideally every block should have an elder-friendly/toddler-friendly bench (with back and side-support). Pedestrians must dominate over cars and bicycles along critical pathways used by older adults and young children.”
(pg. 3, DESIGN GUIDELINES for a Lifespan Community)

“Facilitate way-finding in the interior and exterior environment:

Provide sensory cues leading to significant destinations – sound patterns, pennants, visual access to steeples, public symbols, kiosks, signage, linear parks, green walkways, corner features such as sculpture and benches."
(pg. 4, DESIGN GUIDELINES for a Lifespan Community)

The AdvantAge Initiative
“a community-building effort focused on creating vibrant and elder-friendly, or ‘AdvantAged,’ communities that are prepared to meet the needs and nurture the aspirations of older adults.”

Aging in Place
An initiative of Partners for Livable Communities to “help America’s communities prepare for the aging of their population and to become places that are good to grow up, live in and grow old.”

AARP commissioned a survey “to examine the transportation needs and preferences of mid-life and older adults.” Click the link to read a summary of the key findings of Understanding Senior Transportation Survey.

The survey said “that age alone is not the best indicator of transportation mode use, transportation problems, or personal mobility. Health and disability status (HDS) has its own unique impact on mobility…”

Tags: children | elder-friendly | older adults | pedestrians | Sidewalks