Search Results (4)

The global rise in the aging driving population has heightened concerns about traffic incidents involving this demographic. Beyond transportation, automobiles represent a vital lifeline for older adults, fostering social activities and influencing their health-related quality of life. This study explores improving and sustaining driving ability among older adults with anticipated declines through health-conscious exercises. Sixty-eight participants were randomly allocated into two groups. The exercise-oriented group (E-group) engaged in twelve 90 min health and exercise sessions over twelve weeks, while the control group (C-group) maintained their regular daily routines and did not receive any specific interventions during this period. The focal point of assessment was driving ability, as evaluated by a person using a real car on public roads without using a simulator. Driving ability and physical fitness were assessed before the intervention in both groups. Post-intervention measurements occurred twelve weeks after the initial gauging, encompassing both cohorts. Comparative analysis of pre- and post-intervention changes was executed between the two groups. The E-group demonstrated improved overall driving ability compared to the C-group. The results suggest that healthy exercise and physical activity may maintain and enhance driving ability for older adults. Full article

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) may significantly impact people’s choice of residential locations and spatial structures. The impact may vary across different countries, but few studies have focused on it. This study drew on China and the United States (US) as two cases to study car drivers’ knowledge of AVs and willingness to move farther if AVs were available by estimating ordered logistic regression models. The results showed that 42.3% of Chinese and 29.8% of US respondents were likely to consider moving farther away from the nearest city or the destination for the most frequent trip if they had an AV. The Chinese sample had less knowledge of AVs than the US sample, but they were more likely to consider a move. AVs may lead to a new round of urban sprawl, but the challenge may be greater for China. We captured the socio-economic and transport factors that affected this result. Full article

This paper presents a mixed-method analysis of car ownership in Reykjavik, Iceland, a location with a high motorization level and deeply rooted car culture. We utilize qualitative interviews to understand vehicle possession reasons and elaborate the study with statistical analysis using a softGIS survey dataset with characteristics of the respondents and their residential location. We focus on adults aged 25 to 40, who are suggested to be less car-oriented than older generations. We also describe the historic development of Reykjavik’s car culture to give a perspective for the findings. We show that even among the studied age group, car ownership is still seen as a social norm, with few even seeing it possible to live without a car, and the public transport system is seen as giving a poverty stigma. However, we still find an increasing share of car-free households towards the city center. Still, the built environment impact is limited to the city center, which has a higher proportion of small adult-only households residing in shared apartments than other areas. Moreover, there seems to be a three-fold connection between having a child, acquiring a car (if not already possessed), and choosing a suburban residential location. Some indications of residential self-selection related to car ownership were found, but pro-car attitudes and residential location independently influenced car ownership. This study helps to understand the reasons for high car dominance and supports designing policies to reduce car-dependency, not just in Reykjavik but also elsewhere. Full article

This research paper identifies and explores the opinions and attitudes of young people about urban transport. It is the first study on this topic, based on the survey, analysing the mobility choices of young adults (more specifically, Generation Y) in Poland and for countries in Central and Eastern Europe. The aim of the paper is to show their travel behaviour from sustainable mobility perspective. The primary data was obtained through the online survey. The data analysis was held with use of factor analysis and ANOVA. The research results indicated the variables influencing the environmental dimension of sustainable mobility attitudes of young adults in four areas: the ecology-oriented approach to transport, opinions about sharing economy, public car concept and future transport system. The analysis of variance revealed significant differences in the ecology-oriented approach between people born in different decades, between men and women and between people with driving licences and people without them. Those results provide the insights for local authorities and mobility service providers. The recommendations at the end of the paper focus on the need for continuation of research in similar fields. Full article