Tailoring age-friendly technology-enabled transportation service solutions in rural communities

Jie Yu, Yue Liu and Jing Zhao

Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 2024, vol. 187, issue C

Abstract: Rural older adults requiring transportation assistance represent an historically underserved demographic, who often have greater needs for transportation services but may face challenges in benefiting from the latest transportation technological developments. This paper presents one of the first studies that aims to investigate the effective technology-enabled solutions that can cater to the diverse needs of rural older adults throughout the entire service process. The study first uses latent class analysis (LCA) structure model to identify three distinct groups of older adults with varying attitudes toward information and transportation technologies: (1) Class 1 – tech-challenged, moderate transportation tech adopters, (2) Class 2 – tech-savvy, modest transportation tech adopters, and (3) Class 3 – tech-savvy, enthusiastic transportation tech adopters. The estimated results from the LCA membership model demonstrated that Class 1 appear to constitute a more vulnerable population compared to their counterparts in Class 2 and Class 3, as they tend to be characterized by older age, lower household income, living alone, and more dependence on mobility aids. The study then delves into qualitative insights through focus group discussions with individuals balanced from these identified groups, revealing ten critical elements that encompass the entirety of service reservation, recommendation, scheduling, and reception. The findings suggest several tech-based solutions, including: (1) the establishment of a regional “one call does it all” center, (2) the implementation of a centralized ride matching and recommendation system, (3) the introduction of an automated scheduling system aligned with healthcare services, and (4) the development of a user-friendly portable device for service reception. These solutions aim to empower both technology and transportation service professionals in delivering age-friendly rural transportation services customized to the unique needs and limitations of older adults.

Keywords: Rural transportation service; Age-friendly; Tech-enabled solutions; Latent class analysis; Reflective thematic analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965856424002398
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:transa:v:187:y:2024:i:c:s0965856424002398

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/supportfaq.cws_home/regional
https://shop.elsevie ... _01_ooc_1&version=01

DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2024.104191

Access Statistics for this article

Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice is currently edited by John (J.M.) Rose

More articles in Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().