Mobility and healthy ageing in the city: Exploring opportunities and challenges of autonomous vehicles for older adults’ outdoor mobility

Document summary

Older adults face outdoor mobility challenges due to age-related changes and problems linked to the transportation system. The advent of fully-autonomous vehicles (AVs) is expected to benefit older adults by facilitating their outdoor mobility. However, research exploring the implications of AVs from older adults’ perspective is limited. This study explores older adults’ perception of the opportunities and concerns regarding AVs, in relation to their outdoor mobility needs and challenges. Using a qualitative design, we explore these issues based on in-depth interviews conducted with participants (?65 years) in Greater Manchester, UK. The results revealed that older adults perceive opportunities in AVs enhancing their physical activity, promoting social interaction and offering stress-free door-to-door mobility. They, however, expressed concerns including safety, cost, possible erosion of road etiquettes and a desirable driving culture as a result of automation, a lack of social interaction with a human driver, and possible difficulties in using AVs. The participants’ most preferred use options (i.e., public transport and shared autonomous services) are grounded in their need for social interaction, physical activity, safe and less stressful, and affordable travel. The implications of these findings for policy at the intersection of mobility and healthy ageing in future cities are discussed.