Older adults, people with disabilities, individuals in low-income households, and those living in rural areas can face significant mobility challenges. This study examines travel behavior and mobility of these transportation-disadvantaged groups by analyzing data from the National Household Travel Survey (NHTS). NHTS data on driving, trip frequency, staying in the same place all day or week, miles driven per year, mode choice, use of public transportation, trip purpose, trip distance, and issues and concerns regarding transportation are highlighted. Differences are shown by age group, gender, household income, whether a person has a disability or condition affecting ability to travel, and whether the individual lives in a rural or urban area. Differences between 2001 and 2009 are documented to identify trends in travel behavior.

Automated vehicles (AV) offer a unique opportunity to improve the safety and efficiency of the transportation system and enhance the mobility of aging and transportation disadvantaged populations simultaneously. However, before this potential can be realized, it is important to develop a greater understanding of aging adults’ travel behavior and attitudes toward AVs to determine how AVs could best meet their travel needs. To this end, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) tasked a multidisciplinary team of researchers from Florida State University to conduct a research project aimed at providing information and guidance on how automated and connected vehicle technology could enhance the mobility of aging populations. This project was divided into four separate, but related, research tasks, including literature reviews of aging adult’s travel behavior and safety, a survey of Floridian’s attitudes toward AVs, and a social media data mining analysis of public perception of AVs.

The future of disability in America will depend on how well the U.S. prepares for and manages the demographic, fiscal, and technological developments that will unfold during the next two to three decades. Building upon two prior studies from the Institute of Medicine (the 1991 Institute of Medicine's report Disability in America and the 1997 report Enabling America), The Future of Disability in America examines both progress and concerns about continuing barriers that limit the independence, productivity, and participation in community life of people with disabilities. This book offers a comprehensive look at a wide range of issues, including the prevalence of disability across the lifespan; disability trends the role of assistive technology; barriers posed by health care and other facilities with inaccessible buildings, equipment, and information formats; the needs of young people moving from pediatric to adult health care and of adults experiencing premature aging and secondary health problems; selected issues in health care financing (e.g., risk adjusting payments to health plans, coverage of assistive technology); and the organizing and financing of disability-related research. The Future of Disability in America is an assessment of both principles and scientific evidence for disability policies and services. This book's recommendations propose steps to eliminate barriers and strengthen the evidence base for future public and private actions to reduce the impact of disability on individuals, families, and society.

This book seeks to bring together different philosophical, theoretical, and methodological approaches to the study of human mobility within the discipline of geography. With five thematic sections – conceptualizing and analyzing mobility, inequalities of mobility, politics of mobility, decentering mobility, and qualifying abstraction – and 27 substantive chapters by leading researchers in the field, it provides a comprehensive overview of the latest thinking about human mobility and related issues. The contributors discuss mobility issues as diverse as everyday mobilities of young people, migrants and refugees, and sex workers; the relationships between citizenship and mobility; and the potential and pitfalls of big data for understanding mobility. This, coupled with a broad international focus, means that Geographies of Mobility will not only encourage and enrich dialogue on a theme that is of major importance to varied geographic research communities, but will also be of great interest to students and researchers across the wider social sciences. This book was originally published as a special issue of Annals of the American Association of Geographers.