In most OECD Member countries, older adults comprise the fastest growing segment of the population, and in many, one in every four persons will be aged 65 or over in 2030. By 2050, the population of those over 80 years of age is expected to have tripled in most OECD Member countries. The study described in this volume had as its aim to identify current and emerging mobility and safety issues arising from the ageing of the baby boom generation and to develop policy and research recommendations to meet older people's transport needs while maintaining acceptable safety standards. On the basis of literature and policy reviews, analysis of demographic and statistical data and study of recent research findings and case studies, the study has sought to: assess the effects on safety and mobility of changes in demographics, economics and older people's functional abilities; determine the ageing population's travel patterns and the implications for transport needs; evaluate the effectiveness of past strategies for reducing older people's exposure to crash risk and their impact on mobility; identify new strategies for addressing the mobility and safety needs of the elderly, including an assessment of infrastructure provision and maintenance, public transport options, new technology, vehicle design and regulation (e.g. driver licensing requirements); evaluate the extent to which road infrastructure design and maintenance has taken into account the needs of older road users; identify the impact of road infrastructure on older people's safety and mobility; develop and make recommendations on key policy issues concerning the mobility and safety needs of an ageing population, and identify marketing strategies to disseminate information to educate, advise and promote ways to improve safe mobility for older road users. This publications highlights the main points of this study. (Author/publisher)
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