Analysis of the 2022 National Household Travel Survey examines how older adults who are no longer in the labor force get around, how often they leave home, and for what purposes. Labor-force status emerges as a meaningful determinant of travel behavior, including reliance on alternative transportation and the number and type of daily trips. Out-of-home mobility is a practical determinant of access to medical care, food, and social contact in later life.
Key Points
- Travel behavior differs by labor-force participation among older adults
- Alternative transportation use and trip purposes mapped in national survey
- Out-of-home mobility underpins access to care and social contact
Longevity Analysis
Trip frequency functions as a proxy for physical activity, social engagement, and autonomy — three variables tightly linked to cognitive preservation and musculoskeletal maintenance after retirement. When work-related travel disappears, the structure that once guaranteed daily movement and incidental social contact must be deliberately rebuilt, or the range of daily life quietly contracts. Transportation access is therefore less a logistical question than an upstream determinant of whether the body continues to be loaded, the mind continues to be stimulated, and medical care remains reachable.
Original published by SAGE Research on Aging, by Namkee G. Choi, C. Nathan Marti1School of Social Work, 12330The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.