| With the aging of the baby boomers, the population of non-drivers will increase dramatically. The transition from driving to non-driving can be difficult mentally, logistically, and emotionally. The first adaptation seniors deploy when they face driving difficulties is to ask friends and family for rides. This dissertation attempts to understand how this adaptation is deployed, and how effectively it meets seniors' transportation needs. We use survey data, gathered from over 700 seniors living in suburbs of Sacramento, CA, to explore the antecedents and outcomes of this type of ridesharing. Two hypotheses guide this investigation: (1) There is a positive relationship between ridesharing and social activity. (2) There is a positive relationship between living in a retirement community, social activity, and mobility.;We found support for both of these hypotheses, although support for the first was stronger and more robust. A binary logit model found that seniors turn to ridesharing when driving is difficult and when they do not live with a licensed driver. Simple means comparisons showed that ridesharing allowed seniors to maintain average levels of mobility, and that regular ridesharers had larger and more active social networks than non-ridesharers. Furthermore, according to our regression model, higher frequencies of ridesharing lead to a greater number of social visits per year, and the ability to reach friends via lower cost mobility modes, particularly walking, also increases seniors' social interactions.;Living in a retirement community is also positively associated with ridesharing and social activity. Our analyses indicate that relocating to a retirement center could support the positive relationship between social networks and ridesharing, and could compensate for limited mobility. The regression model, however, suggests that retirement-dwelling seniors may face challenges in visiting formerly local friends.;This dissertation suggests that seniors' mobility can be enhanced by facilitating ridesharing, and that an effective way to promote both mobility and social activity is to make neighborhoods walkable for seniors. Transportation policies such as these, that promote a virtuous cycle of mobility and sociability, are likely to benefit increasingly large segments of the population. |
