[Report] Getting Around to Age in Place: Greater Victoria Summary Report

Summary

Older adults represent a rapidly-growing age group in Canada, and many rely on private vehicles as their main mode of transportation for their daily travel. Despite the risk of having to give up driving as they age, the impact of driving cessation on older adults’ mobility and wellbeing is still poorly understood. The Getting Around to Age in Place project, conducted by the Transportation Research at McGill (TRAM) research lab and funded by the National Research Council of Canada (NRC), centers on older adults’ perceptions of their travel patterns and how daily mobility affects their lives. The Aging in Place survey (N= 3,551) was conducted in six metropolitan regions across Canada in 2023. This report presents a summary of the survey findings from Greater Victoria (N= 294). For further details about the project, and comparative data for all six regions please see the Aging in Place Final Report 2022-2025.

Key Findings

• A majority of older adults in Greater Victoria believed that daily travel contributes positively to their quality of life, and stated that continuing to travel independently is very important to them. However, many older adults were concerned about whether they will be able to remain in their current neighbourhood due to changing mobility needs as they age.
• While driving remained the main mode of transport for many older adults, just over half of Victoria respondents believed the public transit system allows them to satisfy their daily needs. Around one-fifth of respondents were frequent transit users, taking transit at least once a week.
• Older adults in Victoria commonly considered 30 minutes as the most reasonable travel time for a public-transit trip.
• The most common destinations for public-transit trips were shopping, medical appointments, recreation, and visiting friends and family.
• Among transit users, overall satisfaction with the service was generally high, however there were some concerns about the comfort, convenience, reliability, and safety of public transit.
• More than one-third of older adults reported having some type of disability or health condition which limits their mobility. Over half of respondents who identified as having a disability felt that the transit system does not meet their needs.
• About half of non-transit users in Victoria lacked knowledge about how the public-transit system works, and knowledge about paratransit services was particularly lacking.
• In open-ended questions, many Victoria residents expressed dissatisfaction with frequency and efficiency of transit services and were concerned about accessibility to and from bus stops, safety both at bus stops and on board, as well as the user-friendliness of transit and paratransit services.

Read the full report, attached below.