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An activity-based approach of investigating travel behaviour of older people

Application of a time–space constrained scheduling model (CUSTOM) for older people in the National Capital Region (NCR) of Canada

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Abstract

The paper presents the results of an investigation on daily activity-travel scheduling behaviour of older people by using an advanced econometric model and a household travel survey, collected in the National Capital Region (NCR) of Canada in 2011. The activity-travel scheduling model considers a dynamic time–space constrained scheduling process. The key contribution of the paper is to reveal daily activity-travel scheduling behaviour through a comprehensive econometric framework. The resulting empirical model reveals many behavioural details. These include the role that income plays in moderating out-of-home time expenditure choices of older people. Older people in the highest and lowest income categories tend to have lower variations in time expenditure choices than those in middle-income categories. Overall, the time expenditure choices become more stable with increasing age, indicating that longer activity durations and lower activity frequency become more prevalent with increasing age. Daily activity type and location choices reveal a clear random utility-maximizing rational behaviour of older people. It is clear that increasing spatial accessibility to various activity locations is a crucial factor in defining daily out-of-home activity participation of older people. It is also clear that the diversity of out-of-home activity type choices reduces with increasing age and older people are more sensitive to auto travel time than to transit or non-motorized travel time.

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Notes

  1. http://www.ncr-trans-rcn.ca/en/ (Accessed in May 2015).

  2. http://www.ncr-trans-rcn.ca/surveys/o-d-survey/o-d-survey-2011/ (Accessed in May 2015).

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Acknowledgments

The study was funded by an NSERC Discovery Grant and an Early Researcher Award from Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Innovation. The authors acknowledge the contribution of the TRANS Committee. Thanks to Ahmad Subhani, Senior Project Manager of the City of Ottawa. However, the errors and mistakes are the sole responsibility of the authors. The authors also acknowledge the comments and suggestions of three anonymous reviewers.

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  1. University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

    Khandker M. Nurul Habib & Vivian Hui

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  1. Khandker M. Nurul Habib
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  2. Vivian Hui
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Correspondence to Khandker M. Nurul Habib.

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Habib, K.M.N., Hui, V. An activity-based approach of investigating travel behaviour of older people. Transportation 44, 555–573 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11116-015-9667-1

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