It is well known that populations are ageing in most countries. With the share of people over age 65 expected to increase by 40% over the next 30 years in ECMT Member and Associate Member Countries, the special needs of this segment of the population will be of increasing importance to policy makers – notably as concerns travel and accessibility to transport services. Indeed, in the next two-to-three decades, older people will be on average relatively healthy and more independent during their retirement period than in the past. With expected education and income levels to be higher, they will also be comparatively more active than previously, and as a result, mobility and accessibility considerations will be of growing importance. With this in mind, the ECMT Working Group on Transport for People with Mobility Handicaps (now the Group on Access and Inclusion) undertook to better identify and understand these special transport needs for the ageing population. The following report is the fruit of that work, which was undertaken in co-ordination with the ECMT Working Group on Road Safety and the OECD. The Conclusions and Recommendations of the report, included at the front of the report, were presented to and approved by ECMT Ministers of Transport at their Council in Lisbon in May 2001. (Author/publisher)
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