Analysis of Travel Characteristics of Elders in Beijing

On the basis of the information concerning individual travel behavior of partial elders in the data of travel survey in Beijing in 2005, the article analyzes and compares the individual travel characteristics between the elders and the 19–60-year-old population in the aspects of travel ratios, travel time, travel distances, departure time, travel modes, and travel purposes, analyzes the rules of variation of elders' travel behaviors with age, compares the differences of the travel behaviors of the elders between the eight urban districts and the outer suburb districts. It also studies the travel characteristics and attributes of the travel behaviors of the elders' home-based travel chain. The research indicates that differences of the travel characteristics between the 61–65-year-old elders and the 19–60-year-old contrastive population are small, the travel ratio of the elders is slightly lower than that of the contrastive population, the travel mode is mainly walking, and the flexibility level is significantly lower than that of the contrastive population. Besides, the travel distance of the elders falls off sharply with age, and other factors, such as sexes, spouses, family structures, etc., have significant impacts on the elders' travel behaviors.