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Public Transportation System for Aging People… Is It a Neglected Policy?

Authors:

Abstract

Thailand is currently facing a rapidly growing population of older persons. The aging population has increased by 55.84 percent during the past two decades. Some aging people have to rely on their own. Some of them have to travel using public transportation for their daily lives' activities. However, they have been facing difficulties in using public transportation since the current public transportation does not meet their needs and also obstructs their accessibilities. In addition, there is no specific policy which emphasizes on public transportation for aging people. This academic article, therefore, would like to study the concept of aging people, aging people and their travel, public transportation service for aging people, public transportation policy for aging people, and to analyze why such policy is neglected.
140 Vol. 26 No. 3, Sep-Dec 2015Academic Services Journal Prince of Songkla University



Waiphot Kulachai

 
 





transportation
public policy
aging people


 
 











 




 





Abstract
 



    





Vol. 26 No. 3, Sep-Dec 2015Academic Services Journal Prince of Songkla University 141
















policy concretely.









 





 





 























วารสารวิทยบริการ

142 Vol. 26 No. 3, Sep-Dec 2015Academic Services Journal Prince of Songkla University


  

 









 
   












 
 -













 
















 















Vol. 26 No. 3, Sep-Dec 2015Academic Services Journal Prince of Songkla University 143
















 
 



















  





 







 
 




 









 










วารสารวิทยบริการ

144 Vol. 26 No. 3, Sep-Dec 2015Academic Services Journal Prince of Songkla University
 



  
 










 






  
 



 







 








  

 
  





 

















 



Vol. 26 No. 3, Sep-Dec 2015Academic Services Journal Prince of Songkla University 145
  

 
 


 



 






 

























 


  

































วารสารวิทยบริการ

146 Vol. 26 No. 3, Sep-Dec 2015Academic Services Journal Prince of Songkla University



  











 










 
 
  







 




 


 








 










 



 


 


 


Vol. 26 No. 3, Sep-Dec 2015Academic Services Journal Prince of Songkla University 147








 

















































 




 

 











วารสารวิทยบริการ

148 Vol. 26 No. 3, Sep-Dec 2015Academic Services Journal Prince of Songkla University













 

















 






  
 







































Vol. 26 No. 3, Sep-Dec 2015Academic Services Journal Prince of Songkla University 149


































Journal of the Eastern Asia Society for

 Transportation policy
for an aging society: Keeping older Americans on
 A paper presented in Conference on




for safe and sustainable senior mobility. A paper
presented in Conference on Transportation in



New concept of older persons:
























Eastern Asia Society for
, 1301-1313.


developing country. Eastern Asia Society of
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





an aging-friendly community. Journal of the


A paper presented in Conference on
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





วารสารวิทยบริการ

150 Vol. 26 No. 3, Sep-Dec 2015Academic Services Journal Prince of Songkla University

 The elderly and mobility: A review of


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
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


... Bangkok has a wide range of public transport options including buses, paratransit, trains, boats, and rail. The most demand is for transit (bus and van) and metro (BTS and MRT) (Kulachai, 2015). Transit operation consists of 7,525 buses and 5,316 vans servicing 459 routes (Bangkok Mass Transit Authority, 2016). ...
... Unpredictable traffic conditions, unreliable travel times, and the lack of transit connection points have been common problems for ground public transport (Khemapech and Kidbunjong, 2014). In addition, long walking distances, crowded vehicles, and unsafe conditions while using services in addition to difficult to use information systems make the use of public transport difficult for the elderly (Kulachai, 2015). ...
... A separate special public transport system provided only for the elderly in Bangkok has yet to be provided (Kulachai, 2015). In order to support the elderly and their use of public transportation, supporting public transport policies have been implemented, such as public transport subsidies for portions of bus and metro fares and the provision of specific facilities for the elderly (e.g. ...
Conference Paper
There is a substantial body of literature to suggest that older people suffer more than most from poor public transport and a badly maintained transport infrastructure (Metz 2000, Banister and Bowling, 2004). This paper reports on a study which brings together health promotion professionals, transport planners and older people to understand these issues. A series of focus groups were used to establish the key travel behaviours and issues encountered by a sample of older travelers. The extent to which current transport planning processes identify and reduce these barriers was established through a series of accompanied walks with older people followed by discussions with the local authority engineers and by the application of a GIS tool for assessing accessibility by public transport to key facilities. The paper concludes by identifying the extent to which planning processes for older people can be improved.
Article
This paper is aimed to explore the factors that might affect the elderly people's mode choice behavior in Taiwan. Under the structure of disaggregated demand analysis, a conceptual framework on elderly people's mode usage is formulated. All kinds of mode usage of elderly people are categorized into three alternatives, which are related to the explanatory variables by a multinomial model. Empirical study is conducted through the data released from the Institute of Transportation of Taiwan. Empirical results show that age, gender, employment status, and living environment are proven to be the significant factors that influence mode usage of the elderly in Taiwan. By overcoming the limitation of data sources, we do conduct a pioneer study in discussing the mode choice of elderly people in Taiwan. Conclusions from this study can serve as a worthy and valuable example for Asian countries that are also confronting the problem of population aging.
Transportation policy for an aging society: Keeping older Americans on the move
  • R W Cobb
  • J F Coughlin
Cobb, R. W., & Coughlin, J. F. (1999). Transportation policy for an aging society: Keeping older Americans on the move. A paper presented in Conference on Transportation in Aging Society: A Decade of Experience, 7-9 November, 1999, Bethesda, Maryland.
Surviving without driving: Policy options for safe and sustainable senior mobility
  • K Freund
Freund, K. (1999). Surviving without driving: Policy options for safe and sustainable senior mobility. A paper presented in Conference on Transportation in Aging Society: A Decade of Experience, 7-9 November, 1999, Bethesda, Maryland.
New concept of older persons: The psycho-social and health perspectives
  • R Gray
  • U Pattaravanich
  • C Chamchan
  • R Suwannoppakoa
Gray, R., Pattaravanich, U., Chamchan, C., & Suwannoppakoa, R. (2013). New concept of older persons: The psycho-social and health perspectives. Bangkok: Rongpim Duen Tula.