PUBLICATION

MTI 06-04

Video Transit Training for Older Travelers: A Case Study of the Rossmoor Senior Adult Community, California  

March 2007

Susan A. Shaheen, Ph.D. and Caroline J. Rodier, Ph.D.

ABSTRACT

In this study, the authors applied principles of social learning and marketing to develop a transit training video for residents of the Rossmoor senior adult community in California . The video features familiar community members successfully navigating specific concerns and problems related to transit use in accessing key community destinations (shopping, health care, and the nearest Bay Area Rapid Transit district station). To evaluate the effectiveness of the video, residents were recruited to complete questionnaires before and after viewing it. Video messages aimed to educate viewers on how to obtain transit information, costs, and payment generated a

significant and positive attitudinal change. However, respondents reported that the video did not adequately address the difficulties associated with reading schedules and climbing stairs at transit stations. Survey results also indicate a significant and positive change in respondents’ future use of a broader range of Internet-related information sources. The results also reveal a significant and positive change among respondents in using transit services to the specific destinations presented in the video. However, results are mixed on whether participants might take transit to general destinations not explicitly presented in the video.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Susan Shaheen, Ph.D.

Dr. Susan Shaheen holds a joint research faculty appointment at California Partners for Advanced Transit and Highways (PATH), headquartered at the University of California–Berkeley, and at the University of California–Davis ’s Institute of Transportation Studies . In August 2003, Susan became the Policy & Behavioral Research Program Leader at California PATH. In November 2000, she was honored as the first Honda Distinguished

Scholar in Transportation at UC Davis. Susan has a Ph.D. in ecology, focusing on technology management and the energy and environmental aspects of transportation. She has 16 years of professional experience in transportation and environmental policy, has authored 25 journal articles and over 40 reports and publications, and is co-editor of a book. She has served on the ITS World Congress program committee since 2002 and is the chair of the New Public Transportation Systems and Technology Committee of the Transportation Research Board.

Caroline Rodier, Ph.D.

Dr. Caroline Rodier’s research interests include transportation policy and planning, the behavior effects of new technology applications in transportation, elderly travel behavior, and land-use and travel-demand modeling. She is currently a research engineer at California Partners for Advanced Transit and Highways (PATH), headquartered at the University of California–Berkeley. Some of her current projects include a behavioral evaluation of a transit-based smart parking field test; a statewide public opinion survey on automated speed enforcement; a feasibility analysis of a virtual compliance station for commercial vehicles; social marketing interventions to enhance older traveler mobility; and analyses of modeling uncertainty in the context of environmental impact and air quality conformity processes. She has authored 16 journal articles, 29 proceedings articles, and 22 research reports.

TECHNICAL

MTI 06-04

Video Transit Training for Older Travelers: A Case Study of the Rossmoor Senior Adult Community, California

Published: March 2007
Susan A. Shaheen, Ph.D. and Caroline J. Rodier, Ph.D.

www.path.berkeley.edu/path_downloads/Video/IMR/Rossmoor-Final.mpg

Keywords: Focus groups; Paratransit services; Senior citizens; Transit riders; Travel behavior

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