Accessibility for an Aging Population: Measuring and Ensuring Access to Goods, Services, and Vital Needs

University  Florida State University (FSU)
Principal Investigators  Mark Horner, Ph.D.
PI Contact Information  Department of Geography
Phone: 850.644.8377
Email: mhorner@mailer.fsu.edu
Funding Source(s)and Amounts  Provided(by each agency or organization)  USDOT: $90,700
Florida State University: $45,400
Total Project Cost  $136,100
Agency ID or Contract Number  DTRT13-G-UTC42-03317-34696
Start and End Dates 1/9/2014 - 12/23/2014
Brief Description of Research Project 

With Baby-Boomers now reaching retirement age, the US (and Florida in particular) will have a large segment of its population with distinctive accessibility needs. From securing healthy food to obtaining medical care, as well as simply remaining socially connected to family and friends in their communities, transportation systems have a critical role to play in ensuring our aging population can safely and efficiently reach desired destinations. In this project our key objective is to develop context-specific multimodal modeling and measurement approaches that can be used to assess aging populations' accessibility to essential goods and services. This study will conduct two in-depth literature reviews: one for research that focuses on the research trends in accessibility modeling and then another that focuses on travel behavior and accessibility needs of aging populations. In the latter case, we plan to collect qualitative data and analysis to fill in any gaps we find in the existing literature. We will then combine these two lines of research into a modeling framework that will allow for accessibility measures that are specifically tailored to aging populations. The resulting accessibility metrics will allow us to evaluate how well different modes of transportation equitably serve the needs of the senior populations. We will test the analytical capabilities of our accessibility metrics using Leon County, FL as a case study.

Describe Implementation of Research Outcomes (or why not implemented) Place Any Photos Here Final Report
Impacts/Benefits of Implementation (actual, not anticipated) See Final Report
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