2025 PSR UTC Annual Congress

Analyzing the Evolving Behavior of Older U.S. Travelers in the 21st Century - The number and share of U.S. residents ages 60 and older has increased substantially since 2000, and both are projected to expand further in the years ahead. The mobility patterns of this growing cohort of travelers are consequential and only lightly studied post-pandemic. To better understand the travel patterns of older adults and how they have evolved since the Millennium broadly, and following the COVID-19 pandemic in particular, this paper analyzes national data from the 2001, 2009, 2017, and 2022 iterations of the U.S. National Household Travel Survey. We compare travelers in their 60s, 70s, and above with both middle-aged and younger travelers across multiple dimensions, including trip-making, person-miles of travel, trip distance, driving cessation, and mobility for non-drivers. We find that trip-making and person-miles of travel have been falling for years, and dramatically following the pandemic. We find that older adults are driving later in life over time, and that non-driving adults make fewer trips and travel fewer miles than those who remain behind the wheel. The implications of declining driver cessation despite lower overall travel among older travelers point toward persistent travel demands favoring driving, even as older adults are less mobile over time.