“I want complete freedom”: car use and everyday mobility among the newly retired

European Transport Research Review

Original Paper

Marianne Abramsson¹  Jan-Erik Hagberg¹  Lena Levin²  Jessica Berg³ 

[1] National Institute for the Study of Ageing and Later Life (NISAL) Department of Social and Welfare Studies, Linköping University, SE- 601 74, Norrköping, Sweden;Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI), SE- 581 95, Linköping, Sweden;Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI), SE- 581 95, Linköping, Sweden;National Institute for the Study of Ageing and Later Life (NISAL) Department of Social and Welfare Studies, Linköping University, SE- 601 74, Norrköping, Sweden;

关键词: Car use;    Mobility;    Retirement;    Older people;    Space-time restrictions;   

DOI  :  10.1007/s12544-015-0180-6

 received in 2015-01-16, accepted in 2015-09-02,  发布年份 2015

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

PurposeTo investigate car use among newly retired people, to explore to what extent car transport is used for everyday mobility and how it is valued in comparison to other transport modes.MethodsThe data consists of travel diaries and qualitative interviews with 24 individuals, aged between 61 and 67, living in a middle-sized Swedish city. They were recruited via the local branch of one of the main associations of pensioners, one large employer in the municipality, and through another study. The informants filled in a travel diary during 1 week that were analysed by VISUAL- TimePAcTS, an application for visualising and exploring activity diary data. The semi-structured qualitative interviews were analysed using a qualitative content analysis.ResultsThe car was used for several trips daily and often for short trips. The informants had a lot of everyday projects that they would not be able to perform if they did not have access to a car. The importance of the car does not seem to have changed upon retirement, albeit it is partly used for other reasons than before. The informant’s social context implies new space-time constraints. Commitments to family members, engagement in associations and spouses’ occupations affect how much and when they use the car, and their overall mobility.ConclusionsIn contrast to much research on older people’s mobility that has studied slightly older people, this study have focused on a specific group that are relatively healthy, well-off, and have the possibility to choose between different modes of transport. By combining travel diaries and qualitative interviews, we have explored how newly retired people reason as regard their travel behaviour but also how they actually travel. Although the car was used more than other transport modes, being able to walk and cycle now that they had more time as retirees was highly valued. Our results indicate that urban residents that are retiring now and in the future are a key target group in transport planning when it comes to reduce car use in favour of slow modes of transport.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2015