Episode 310: Talking Aging and Transportation

Talk Policy To Me

We know from research—and from personal experience with our own elders—that mobility and independence are key components of mental and emotional wellness for the over 65, or senior, population. However, once they’re no longer able to drive their cars due to health and safety concerns, that mobility—or ease of getting from point A to point B—plummets. A senior who no longer drives may be supported by their family for essential trips to health care services and the grocery story, but even in this best-case scenario, their physical world shrinks substantially.

The challenge is that when the elderly stop driving, they are largely left without good alternatives for transportation. For the vast majority of seniors who live in suburban and rural areas, there is no public transit to speak of, and a car-oriented streetscape means that walking isn’t a viable option either. And for the tiny percentage living in dense cities, public transit can be challenging to navigate for seniors who spent most of their lives driving their own cars –and it may not even serve the destinations they’re hoping to reach.

The elderly community is a treasured and crucial part of our social fabric; seniors work, provide childcare to working families, volunteer, create art, and more. Improving transit and transportation systems to serve their needs is imperative, particularly as the share of the US population over the age of 65 grows.

In the latest episode in our series on demographic shifts, Talk Policy To Me reporter Reem Rayef (MPP/MA-ERG ‘21) speaks with Clarrissa Cabansagan of TransForm and Dr. Sandi Rosenbloom of UT Austin to uncover how transportation systems must respond to the existing (and growing) issue of elderly mobility –and how doing so could help get us all out of our cars and onto public transit.

Clarrissa Cabansaganis the New Mobility Policy Director at TransForm and a UC Berkeley alum. Her work at TransForm centers on transportation equity and justice, and what that looks like in the era of scooters and Uber. She is a lifetime Bay Area resident.

Dr. Sandi Rosenbloomis a Professor of Community and Regional Planning at the University of Texas at Austin, and the Director of the UT Lab for Safe & Healthy Aging. Read her report for the Urban Institute on elderly access to paratransit services here.

For more on demographic shifts, check out our episodes on direct care workers and fertility.

See show notes and full transcript here: https://gspp.berkeley.edu/research-and-impact/news/podcast/episode-310-talking-aging-and-transportation