Mobility and transport potential of elderly in differently accessible rural areas

The aim of this paper is to examine the mobility characteristics of the elderly in rural settlements with different accessibility (low accessibility, medium accessibility, and high accessibility), defined in relation to the facilities that are important to the elderly and the transport network density. Another aim is to define and analyze the transport potential of the rural elderly population. The paper is based on research carried out in 2012 and 2013 in rural areas of Serbia. The data were collected through a household survey specially designed for rural areas, from a sample of 346 elderly respondents. Based on the data analysis, it was found that mobility of the rural elderly population in Serbia is generally low, but there are significant differences among rural settlements with different accessibility, with age and possession of a driving license having a major impact on mobility. It was also found that the transport alternative choice set of the majority of respondents consists of four modes of transport, which is due to the fact that the rural elderly live in multi-member households. However, considering the identified demographic trends in Serbian rural areas, the transport potential of the elderly is likely to be lower in the future, and this should inform future rural transport policy with the aim of mitigating transport deprivation and social exclusion.