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Older people are reported to be the largest group to suffer from mobility deprivation. This paper reviews the literature relating to the mobility of older people in the context of transport opportunities and provision. The findings show that older people regard car ownership as an aid to independence and mobility. Car ownership is considered the norm and a necessity in rural areas. However within Wales, older people are more likely to be on a low income and live in a rural area, and are less likely to have a car than the rest of the population. Mobility, hearing and visual problems have a higher prevalence in the older population, rendering the use of public transport problematic. Difficulties include problems with getting on and off buses, difficulties with reading passenger information, missing information and communicating with service personnel. Improved access to public transport for older and disabled people can make a major contribution to the financial and social independence of this large and growing sector of the population (TRL Project Report, 1994) and will further promote the social inclusion of older people into society.

Countries across the globe are seeing both an ageing population and an increase in mobility. This chapter looks at how society deals with an ageing population that also wants or needs to be mobile. Lack of mobility is synonymous with poorer health and wellbeing, with research suggesting it can lead to loneliness, isolation and even death. Hence, it seems appropriate to keep older people as mobile as later on in life as possible. The car is often seen as the panacea to this, but older people are the group most likely to have to give-up driving. How society provides alternatives to the car depends on how mobility is viewed. This chapter argues that we need to see older people’s mobility as a human issue, understanding their needs and realising there are affective and emotive relationships between people and mobility. We still provide mobility for older people based purely on functional journeys to hospitals, services and shops. Yet research suggests mobility to connect people, for a day out, for leisure purposes and for its own sake are vital to the wellbeing of older people. Services for older people need to recognise this and provide for it and there are some good examples in the community but these are too few and far between. Additionally, because transport is seen as functional for older people, there is a lack of emphasis on the aesthetic or on providing attractive services for older people, as if this isn’t important to older people. Finally, mobility doesn’t always have to be literal for older people and there is an argument that needs can be met through potential, virtual and imaginative mobility.

Purpose — This chapter presents research findings in relation to the place of the ability to be mobile in promoting social inclusion.

Approach — A model outlining the relationships between social exclusion, well-being (satisfaction with life), bonding and bridging social capital, sense of community and trips, was explored. The difficulty of measuring complex intangibles in social science was recognised and a number of possible approaches to social capital were examined.

Findings — Despite the different ways of organising the data on social capital, the findings showed the same trends. It was found that the number of trips was important for the relationship between social capital and sense of community on social exclusion and well-being. Bonding and bridging social capital are important for both increasing social inclusion and well-being, both of which are strongly correlated. The number of trips taken by a person acts as a mediating variable to increase bridging social capital and decrease social exclusion. This research illustrates both the complexities and importance of definitions and measurement of social science concepts and the importance of considering their role in transport planning, where their use is new. This research adds a new area of understanding about the role of transport. It moves beyond a narrow view of travel needs and experiences, to the onset of understanding how transport can also facilitate intermediate goals related to social capital and social inclusion and how these social aspects then lead to enhanced well-being.

A study of the main parameters to be resolved for civil V/S.T.O.L. aircraft, the necessity for all weather operation, the airport requirements and the competition from other forms of transport. FROM a choice of a wide range of V/S.T.O.L. applications, this paper is concerned with the civil aircraft aspects. It deals with the main parameters to be studied in resolving V.T.O.L. and S.T.O.L. aircraft characteristics, the weighting of these toward favourable performance and to meeting the proposed certification rules for this form of transport. The part to be played by electronics in all weather operations is also discussed. Competition from surface transport, and V/S.T.O.L. airport requirements are referred to, and some general characteristics of the many different aircraft configurations are discussed. Some conclusions are reached suggesting the direction and weighting of future work.