Mobility, Senior Citizens and the European Year

Publication date: 25 January 2010

The number of senior citizens is on the rise. They represent an opportunity—and a challenge. FIA clubs have a defining interest in the mobility of all, including senior and disabled people.

The European Commission has carried out a public consultation which aimed at determining whether 2012 should be declared “European Year for active ageing and intergenerational mobility”.

As FIA clubs’ overreaching goal is to ensure that mobility for all remains a reality in Europe’s ever changing social structure the FIA European Bureau did not miss this opportunity to showcase how it would address the challenge of mobility in an ageing society.

In its answer the FIA European Bureau stressed that all European citizens should benefit from a transport system whose design and management correspond to their needs, including the specific needs of the eldest and weakest.

It also suggest that during the European Year, clubs could support the European Union’s initiative by disseminating information about the European Year to their members through club magazines and public awaress activities promoting the mobility interests of seniors and disabled people.

The FIA European Bureau offered to work with the European Commission to come up with concrete actions that would contribute to a successful Year, and bring-in the expertise of its clubs.

The fact that people live longer and healthier lives brings a number of challenges and opportunities. These changes will lead to a significant increase in senior citizens who enjoy the benefits of daily mobility in their adult lives. Access to mobility will be ever more a dominant issue facing older people. To continue leading an active and socially integrated life, they will in their older years need to make the best possible use of all personal mobility options (feet, bicycles, public transport and cars).

The European Bureau’s vision calls for a transport system of the future encompassing all different transport modes, which can be combined to allow an efficient door-to-door mobility. Ultimately, what is good for senior citizens is good for everyone. All citizens will benefit from the development of an efficient transport offer encompassing the particular needs of the weakest.

An adapted mobility offer will be crucial for older citizens to remain able to fully participate in tomorrow’s society. The European Bureau therefore recalled that mobility is one of the most important pre-conditions to intergenerational solidarity because it will enable the ageing citizens to remain independent and active in their local communities.

The Bureau insisted that, when it comes to the issue of mobility of the elderly, individual and collective transport offer different services and fill different needs. They are complementary in achieving an accessible, easy and safe mobility. The best approach to tackling the challenges of an ageing society is to support a balanced use of all means of transport.

In its answer the FIA European Bureau identified a series of challenges with regard to personal mobility which are specifically linked to an ageing society in which intergenerational solidarity should be enhanced.

The FIA European Bureau therefore suggested to the European Union to:

• Recognize and act on the fact that the demand for individual mobility will continue to rise as different groups of active seniors emerge (more social, cultural and sport activities; different ways of traveling…).
• Recognize the car will be the first choice for older people, both as drivers and passengers. Cars enable seniors to continue leading relatively independent and active lives they are used to. Car journeys remain key vectors of societal interactions.
• Recognize the importance of adapting public transport to the needs of elderly citizens. Public transport must offer an appropriate, user-friendly, safe and efficient door-to-door service.
• Support definition and implementation of policies and actions that help elderly citizens remain mobile. This includes measures for pedestrians and cyclists, including construction of separate bicycle lanes and safe crossing infrastructures…
• Policy measures are required to ensure specific needs of older mobile consumers are accounted for:
• Well designed and maintained infrastructure: Increased investments in local and regional road infrastructures – broadly used by older drivers – would benefit all drivers (protected signalized left turn lanes, better lighting and signage, change in timing of red lights, etc). Special attention should be paid to pedestrian crossings and bicycle footpaths to increase the protection of all vulnerable road users.
• Simplification of traffic rules and signs: Road users in general would benefit from a simplification of traffic rules. Policy measures require improving traffic flow (lower speed levels and less variation in speeds) and reducing the complexity of traffic conditions. Homogenized and easier-to-read traffic signs would further improve road safety for all.
• Support for the development and deployment of driver assistance systems such as vision enhancement systems, collision avoidance systems, parking assistance, route guidance systems and telematics. Using these recently developed systems makes driving easier for everyone, especially elderly drivers.
• Implementation of life-long learning and assessment: All drivers would benefit from periodic training, assessing and, potentially, improving driving skills and attitudes. Periodic voluntary assessments and training would show older drivers their weaknesses and improve both their confidence and ability to be safe drivers. Such measures would benefit all drivers, so there is no need to single out older drivers.
• Older drivers need the support of family, friends and health professionals to help them with the decision to stop driving and to explore ways to manage life without a car.
• In this event seniors should be given advice and should be prepared for the time when they are no longer capable of driving a car.
• Provision of appropriate public transport as a complement and alternative to the car: Offers for efficient mobility for older people must be provided in urban and in rural areas. Public transport should become more user friendly and offer longer operation schedules, sufficient seating capacity and increased care from staff (especially drivers) for seniors.

An EU priority is to improve cross-border mobility of European citizens. While elderly citizens benefit from specific initiatives in their home country, the EU should in particular ensure they benefit from those initiatives when travelling in a foreign EU Member State.

The EU “Blue Badge” model promoted by the FIA helps disabled people travel across member state borders secure in the knowledge that their Blue Badge will be recognized by other EU member states.

The ageing of the population will lead to new opportunities and challenges. Our common goal should be to enable older people to go on playing an active role in their communities.

Older people want to, are expected to and even need to continue working beyond retirement and will seek to retain their independent mobility. Many retired people will also want to enjoy leisure by participating in recreation and tourism activities, which they can afford after a lifetime of work.

In answering the public consultation the FIA European Bureau proposed ways to efficiently safeguard participation in society of elderly citizens and allowing them to maintain their interaction with their communities through personal mobility. Addressing those issues during the European Year would help our societies to prepare for the challenges brought by an ageing population.

Check our policy paper on this issue