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Preface In the years following the 1988 publication of the Transportation Research Boardâs(TRBâs) Special Report 218: Transportation in an Aging Society: ImprovingMobility and Safety for Older Persons (TRB 1988), an unprecedented volume of research and development activity on aging occurred in North America, Australia, and Europe. A decade after the report was released, TRB planned and conducted an inter- national conference on the safety and mobility of older persons. The purpose of the conference was to review what had been accomplished in research and implementation since the publication of Special Report 218 and to identify future research and implementation needs for achieving safer mobility for older persons. Funding for the conference was provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; the Federal Highway Administration; the Federal Transit Administration; the Office of the Secretary, U.S. Department of Transportation; the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health; the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the Eno Transportation Foundation; the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety; the Beverly Foundation; and TRB. The National Research Council (NRC) appointed a committee under the chairmanship of Richard Marottoli to plan and conduct the conference, which was held November 7â9, 1999, at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. The conference committee commissioned research papers to be presented and discussed at the conference, planned all aspects of the conference program, and met after the confer- ence to review the information generated and to deliberate on its findings and recommen- dations for future research and program initiatives designed to meet the challenges ahead. The result of these activities is publication of two separate documents that together provide a comprehensive update to Transportation in an Aging Society. The first, Conference Proceedings 27: Transportation in an Aging Society: A Decade of Experience (TRB 2004), contains the technical papers commissioned by the committee and presented at the conference. This companion document, Safe Mobility for Older Americans, contains the committeeâs summary of research accomplishments during the past decade, committee recommendations, and a discussion of crosscutting issues. This document briefly introduces the problem: America is an aging society. As the proportion of older persons grows and they experience the functional declines that often accompany the aging process, their safe mobility will become a significant national issue.* A discussion of the history of research in this area and suggestions vi * Mobility, in this context, refers to more than simply moving from one place to another. It even goes beyond access to lifeâs necessities, such as medical appointments and food. Mobility for older people encompasses quality-of-life issues, such as access to social and cul- tural experiences.
concerning the future magnitude of potential safety issues based on census projections and current crash rates are included. These introductory materials are followed by a series of committee recommendations that build on those offered by Special Report 218. The committee developed its recommendations on the basis of its deliberations, analyses, and judgment. It drew on the wealth of information generated by the confer- ence as well as on other sources. The recommendations are organized by topic area: strategic considerations, drivers, vehicles, roadway environment, and alternative trans- portation. Each section also addresses research needs for the specific area of inquiry. Chapter 4, âCrosscutting Issues,â is presented to frame this complex discussion properly. Identifying and characterizing the safe mobility needs associated with older persons lead to an understanding that the issues cannot be isolated by discipline, organization, population segment, transportation mode, or any other taxonomy. This document concludes with a brief summary of the research recommendations offered by the individual authors of the technical papers. Those recommendations appear in their entirety in Conference Proceedings 27. This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by NRCâs Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to pro- vide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its pub- lished report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the charge. The review com- ments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the delibera- tive process. The committee thanks the following individuals for their review of this report: Germaine Odenheimer, M.D., Donald W. Reynolds Department of Geriatric Medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City; Nina Silverstein, Gerontology Institute, University of Massachusetts, Boston; Donald R. Trilling, Alexandria, Virginia; Harold van Cott, Bethesda, Maryland; and Thomas M. Welch, Iowa Department of Transportation, Ames. Although the reviewers have provided many constructive comments and sugges- tions, they were not asked to endorse the committeeâs findings, conclusions, or recom- mendations, nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by C. Michael Walton, University of Texas at Austin. Appointed by NRC, he was responsible for making certain that an independent exam- ination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final con- tent of the report rests solely with the authoring committee and the institution. Suzanne Schneider, Associate Executive Director of TRB, managed the report review process. The report was edited and prepared for publication by Norman Solomon. The committee thanks Dr. Susan B. Herbel for her assistance in writing and editing major portions of this document. The committee and TRB staff pay tribute to Patricia F. Waller, who passed away as this report was being prepared. The committee expresses its special appreciation to PREFACE vii
Dr. Waller for her wisdom and insights as a member and for her help in the prepara- tion of this report and Conference Proceedings 27. It was Dr. Waller who first pointed out, during one of the committee meetings, the need for a chapter on crosscutting issues, and many of the ideas in that chapter are hers. The members of the committee recognize Dr. Waller for her exemplary career contributions and superb professional example, and observe that it was an honor and distinct pleasure knowing and working with her. REFERENCES TRB. 1988. Special Report 218: Transportation in an Aging Society: Improving Mobility and Safety for Older Persons, Vol. 1. National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 1988. TRB. 2004. Conference Proceedings 27: Transportation in an Aging Society: A Decade of Experience. Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, Washington, D.C. SAFE MOBILITY FOR OLDER AMERICANS viii
