Abstract
Transportation challenges of the elderly are multifarious considering growing demands on transportation systems in many developing countries. Against this background, the study on which this paper is based identifies mobility challenges of the elderly following recent increase in the number of the aging group. The study is part of travel survey of households in Abeokuta, a fast growing city in Nigeria, using structured questionnaire as the survey instrument administered on sampled 556 respondents. Multiple regression analysis is used to establish the relationship between socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents and important factors of trip generation. Major findings show that educational, employment and income status of respondents explain the frequency of trips generated by them up to 76% level of explanation by the variables. Distance to public transport bus or taxi stops, waiting for too long for the available public transport, poor state of the roads and their infrastructure and inadequacies of conventional model of public transport like buses and taxis accounted for the level of satisfaction of transportation use based on the model of analysis that is statistically significant at 80 percent level of explanation. The major policy direction is provision of functional public transport system including bus stops and buses, and more pedestrian areas and sidewalks. In addition, reducing their travel demand, particularly by complimentary options such as access to mobile telecommunications with rebate call charges and development of safer transport infrastructure along with well-coordinated transportation modes may promote greater mobility and safety for the elderly.
Key Words: Elderly, Mobility, Fast-growing-city, Public-transportation
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