Trips per person per year: by age and sex, 2002, Great Britain
The number of trips people in Great Britain make declines with age. During 2002, people aged 70 and over each made an average of 700 trips. This compares with 1,100 trips made by those aged 50 to 59.
Retiring from work has a major influence on travel patterns. Those aged 50 to 59 made around 300 trips for business or commuting purposes on average, compared with hardly any by those 70 and over.
Shopping and other personal business are the most common reasons for travel by older people. During 2002, 43 per cent of trips made by those aged 50 to 59 were to go shopping, to conduct other personal business or to escort somebody else. This increased to 55 per cent for people aged 60 to 69 and to 64 per cent for people aged 70 and over.
Older people also travel considerably less distance than those in younger age groups. Men aged 50 to 59 travelled 16,900 kilometres on average during 2002. This was more than double the 7,000 kilometres travelled by those aged 70 and over. Women in these age groups travelled 11,600 and 5,200 kilometres, respectively.
Older people, specifically those over state pension age, are more reliant than younger people on public transport, in particular local buses. Older people are also considerably more likely to report difficulties accessing local amenities such as shops, banks or hospitals.
In 2002-03, women aged 75 and over in England and those who said they were in only 'fair' or 'poor' health were the most likely to report such access difficulties. Among those in only 'fair' or 'poor' health, 21 per cent of men and 33 per cent of women aged 75 and over said they had difficulties getting to local shops.
The car is the most important form of transport for people of all ages in Great Britain, although its use declines with age. In addition, fewer older women have access to cars compared with men of the same age. In 2001, 88 per cent of men and 85 per cent of women aged 50 to 59 had access to at least one car or van in their household. Among those aged 75 and over these proportions were far lower at 58 per cent and 33 per cent, respectively.
A much greater proportion of older men than women hold a full car driving licence - 68 per cent of men and 28 per cent of women aged 70 and over in 2002. This difference is expected to reduce in the future as 74 per cent of 50 to 59 year old women held a driving licence compared with 89 per cent of men of the same age.
Although they walk less than people in younger age groups, older people are considerably more likely to be killed, as pedestrians, in a road accident. People aged 70 and over walked on average nearly a third less far than the population as a whole in 2002. However, 3.7 per 100,000 population aged 70 and over were killed as pedestrians in road accidents, compared with a rate of 1.3 per 100,000 for the population as a whole.
Sources: National Travel Survey, Department for Transport, for number of trips, distance travelled and driving licence data 2002 English Longitudinal Survey of Ageing for access to services data Road Casualties GB 2002, Department for Transport, for road accident data
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