The Evolving Travel and Driving Behaviors of Older U.S. Travelers in the 21st Century

The number and share of U.S. residents aged 60+ years have 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 since the COVID-19 pandemic. To better understand the travel patterns of older adults and how they have evolved since the turn of the century broadly, and following the COVID-19 pandemic in particular, this article 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 middle-aged (aged 30–59 years) and younger travelers (aged 5–14 and 15–29 years) across multiple dimensions. We find that trip-making and person-miles of travel have been falling for older and younger travelers for years and declined dramatically following the pandemic. Meanwhile, both trip lengths and driving rates have grown. We find, as well, that older adults are driving later in life over time, and non-driving adults are making fewer trips and traveling fewer miles than those who remain behind the wheel. We also find that the odds of giving up driving because of a medical condition or disability have declined significantly since 2009, controlling for an array of factors associated with travel. The practical and policy implications of reduced trip-making, longer trips, higher rates of driving, and declining driver cessation among older travelers are many, and warrant more attention from transportation analysts and policymakers in the years ahead.