Assessing the importance of travel habit and the built environment in shaping elderly’s mobility patterns: A case study in the Netherlands

In the context of social resource inequality among the elderly, understanding elderly’s travel behavior is of importance for enhancing mobility services. Recent attention has been investigated the built environment impacts on travel decisions, however, the influencing mechanisms and its extent on elderly’s mobility patterns are not yet well understood. In particular, how the mode choice behavior of older population is shaped by their habitual behavior remains underexplored. Using the Dutch national travel survey data, this study explored the non-linear effects of historical travel patterns and the built environment on mode choice behaviors, as well as the heterogeneity across different aged groups. We found that historical travel patterns exert a larger impact on mode choice comparing to the built environment factors. Significant threshold effects of built environment factors on mode choice (indicating non-linear impacts) are observed. Older adults tend to walk within a travel distance of 2.5 km and use bike for longer trips beyond 3.5 km. The findings are valuable for policymakers in promoting active mobility patterns for older adults through infrastructure planning.