Researchers from the U.S., China, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom are studying the impact that aging drivers are having on transportation systems, and plan to publish a report on their findings by the end of the year.
(Graphic by Institute for Mobility Research)“Changing Mobility Patterns of the Senior Generation” is sponsored by the Institute for Mobility Research (ifmo), a research facility of the BMW Group. The study will look at historical travel patters of senior populations in each country to determine factors impacting future driving behaviors, as well as create simulation models to predict future scenarios for senior drivers through 2025.
The study began in January and researchers will meet in London this month to look at their progress.
Researchers from the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) and the Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Public Health represent the U.S. team. The overall group leader is TTI Senior Research Scientist Johanna Zmud.
”It used to be that we would see a decline in trip making following retirement,” Zmud says. “People are retiring later in life, which should mean they are still commuting to work. What impacts will that have, especially as this trend continues?”
One factor affecting the research is average life expectancy, which differ in each of the participating countries. In the U.S., it is 79, but in Japan it is 84.
“It’s safe to assume that the amount of mobility is different among countries as well,” says Aging Specialist Marcia Ory of the Texas A&M School of Public Health. “In some countries, people rely on vehicles to get around, while others walk a lot. My role is to provide country-specific aging perspectives to the data. This research is extremely important, with a lot of implications for the future, because the fastest growing population is people over 65, and they are healthier than they have ever been.”
Researchers also will review new technologies, such as collision avoidance, blind spot detection and automatic breaking, that in theory could making driving for seniors less problematic.
“The transportation sector will be strongly influenced by demographic changes, due to distinct differences in mobility patterns of older people compared to younger generations,” ifmo Senior Researcher Peter Phleps says. “The elderly population has always been a very important target group for BMW Group products. We need to understand how the mobility behavior not only of this age group might change in the next 10 to 20 years to derive the right requirements for future products, as well as mobility services such as car or ride sharing.”
