OLDER ROAD USERS: THE INTERNATIONAL TECHNOLOGY SCANNING PROGRAM SUMMARY REPORT

Summary Report

In March 2008, a team of nine transportation safety, traffic engineering, and human factors experts from the United States (U.S.) visited Australia and Japan to assess and evaluate infrastructure improvements designed to aid older road users. The scan tour members sought policy options and initiatives regarding transportation system planning, operations, and design as they relate to older road users. The group met with state and federal government transportation officials, University research centers, and staff from motorists clubs and other non-governmental organizations interested in the mobility of older people. While the focus of the scan was on infrastructure improvements, the team also learned about new policies for older road user training, assessment, and licensing. In addition, general road safety programs were discussed with all agencies visited. The majority of these programs provided a benefit to older road users although they may not have been designed specifically with this user-group in mind. The converse of this is true as well; programs and policies developed for older road user safety and mobility will improve transportation for all users. The information obtained during the trip identified several planning, design, and operational changes which could be implemented in the U.S. to improve the mobility and safety of older road users.

Background

The Federal Highway Administrations (FHWA) Office of International Programs focuses on meeting the growing demands of its partners at the federal, state, and local levels for access to information on state-of-the-art technology and the best practices used worldwide. As part of this Office, the Technology Exchange Program accesses and evaluates innovative foreign technologies and practices that could significantly benefit U.S. highway transportation systems (1). The main avenue for accessing foreign innovations is the International Technology Scanning Program. The program is undertaken jointly with AASHTO and its Special Committee on International Activity Coordination in cooperation with the Transportation Research Boards NCHRP Project 20-36 on Highway Research and Technology International Information Sharing, the private sector, and academia.

The Older Road User (ORU) trip began its planning effort in September 2007 with the completion of a desk scan that recommended Australia and Japan as the two countries to visit during the trip. The initial team meeting occurred in October 2007 in Washington, D.C., and the trip took place February 28 March 16, 2008.

Purpose

By the year 2020, there will be over 50 million Americans age 65 and older and by the year 2050 there will be roughly 80 million adults in this age category (2). It is well established that age-related declines in vision, cognition, and physical abilities will affect how ORUs drive and how they use other transportation modes. As former U. S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta wrote in a Public Roads editorial, Without additional attention to the needs of older citizens, the United States faces critical national impacts not only in terms of transportation safety, but also for the independence and mobility of the senior population. The specialized needs of older road and transit users will place new demands and strains on America's transportation system (3). Engineering-based countermeasures are being developed and implemented here and abroad to minimize the impact of these ability changes.

FHWA has a multitude of programs that are devoted to the integration of ORU needs involving the full spectrum of transportation systems (4). However, the focus of this scan tour was on the implementation of infrastructure improvements for older road users. Many countries, including the United States and Australia, have published documents detailing how the physical, perceptual, and cognitive changes associated with aging affect a persons ability to use the existing transportation system (5,6). These documents include recommendations for improvements to infrastructure and operations to address the needs of older road users, but few have reported on the successful implementation of these recommendations.

The scan tour group also investigated policy initiatives regarding transportation system planning, operations, and design as they relate to older road users. The role of older road users in road safety programming, funding, prioritization and evaluation were also discussed with all of the governmental agencies. The scope of this project specifically excluded driver licensing and remedial training programs; however, the team took the opportunity afforded by the trip to learn about innovative policies in these areas currently taking place in Australia. As a recent GAO report notes, knowledge sharing between the U.S. and other countries can help the U.S. prepare for the coming increase in the proportion of older road users as the baby boom demographic bubble moves toward retirement in coming years (2).

Scan Team Members

The nine members of the team included transportation agency personnel from four states, University researchers, an association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs), and the Federal Highway Administration. The team members were:

• Elizabeth Alicandri (FHWA Co-Chair) Director, Office of Safety Programs Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Washington DC.
• Pamela Hutton (AASHTO Co-Chair) Chief Engineer Colorado Department of Transportation
• Susan T. Chrysler, Ph.D. (Report Facilitator) Senior Research Scientist Texas Transportation Institute
• Leanna Depue, Ph.D. Director, Highway Safety Division Missouri Department of Transportation
• Howard M. Glassman Executive Director Florida Metropolitan Planning Organization Advisory Council
• Thomas M. Granda, Ph.D. Human Centered Systems Team Leader Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)
• David L. Harkey Director University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center
• Thomas J. Smith Division Administrator Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), West Virginia Division
• Barry I. Warhoftig Director, Traffic Engineering West Virginia Department of Transportation

Figure 1. ORU Scan Team in Tokyo, Japan (L-R Warhoftig, Chrysler, Granda, Hutton, Smith, DePue, Glassman, Alicandri, Harkey).

Issues of Interest

The purpose of this scan is to collect information from abroad with the potential to improve roadway safety and mobility for older road users in the United States. Improvements made to benefit this user group will result in safety and mobility benefits for the general population. Major issues of interest included the following:

• Infrastructure-based international best practices that improve safety and mobility for older road users that could be applied in the near term on US roadways.
• Policy approaches to improving infrastructure to better meet the needs and capabilities of older road users.
• Transportation planning policy initiatives to address mobility of older citizens in terms of land-use, transit, and other alternatives to driving.
• Policy approaches to improving older driver assessment, licensing, and training.
• Safety research collaboration opportunities between international and U.S. transportation research centers.
• Ways to improve US and international practices for long-term transportation planning for older road users.

To help the host countries address the teams concerns, a set of amplifying questions was provided to the hosts several months prior to the trip. A complete list of these questions will be included in the full report.

Travel Itinerary

During the two-week trip, the team visited representatives in two countries: Australia and Japan. The team visited three states in Australia: New South Wales, Victoria, and Queensland and the capital city, Tokyo, in Japan. The itinerary is listed below:

Host Delegations

During the two-week trip, the team members met with representatives from the various national and regional transportation agencies in the host countries. A complete list of individuals with whom the team met and contact information for those individuals will be provided in the full report.