title: Travel Behavior Change in Older Travelers: Understanding Critical Reactions to Incidents Encountered in Public Transport.
abstract: Accessibility of travel may be better understood if psychological factors underlying change in travel behavior are known. This paper examines older (65+) travelers' motives for changing their travel behavior. These changes are grounded in critical incidents earlier encountered in public-transport travel. A scientific framework is developed based on cognitive and behavioral theory. In 29 individual interviews, travelers' critical reactions (i.e., cognitive, emotional, and/or behavioral) to 77 critical incidents were examined. By applying critical incident technique (CIT), five reaction themes were identified that had generated travel-behavior change: firm restrictions, unpredictability, unfair treatment, complicated trips, and earlier adverse experiences. To improve older travelers' access to public transport, key findings were: (a) service must be designed so as to strengthen the feeling of being in control throughout the journey; (b) extended personal service would increase predictability in the travel chain and decrease travel complexity; consequently,
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Gösta Ekman Laboratory, Stockholm SE-106 91, Sweden. catherine.sundling@psychology.su.se.
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sundling
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged / Q000523:psychology*; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D014186:Transportation; D014195:Travel / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: critical incidents; critical reactions; older persons; travel behavior change