EXPLORING THE MODE CHOICE IN DAILY TRAVEL BEHAVIOR OF THE ELDERLY IN TAIWAN

Abstract

This paper is aimed to explore the factors that might affect the elderly people's mode choice behavior in Taiwan. Under the structure of disaggregated demand analysis, a conceptual framework on elderly people's mode usage is formulated. All kinds of mode usage of elderly people are categorized into three alternatives, which are related to the explanatory variables by a multinomial model. Empirical study is conducted through the data released from the Institute of Transportation of Taiwan. Empirical results show that age, gender, employment status, and living environment are proven to be the significant factors that influence mode usage of the elderly in Taiwan. By overcoming the limitation of data sources, we do conduct a pioneer study in discussing the mode choice of elderly people in Taiwan. Conclusions from this study can serve as a worthy and valuable example for Asian countries that are also confronting the problem of population aging.