Public transport inclusion and active aging: A systematic review on elderly mobility

Global aging has brought attention to addressing the elderly mobility dilemma, and a commitment to address inclusive transport in aging. Transport inclusion for older adults aims at establishing an age-friendly transport system. As a direct policy goal and promoting active aging as an indirect social goal, to help older populations gain access to transport and social opportunities. Based on the analysis of scientific knowledge mapping over the past 30 years, this study visualizes the hotspots and trends in elderly mobility research. Through a qualitative analysis of 138 papers, this paper reviews the theoretical foundations for transport inclusion and three themes of elderly mobility research, proposes a framework for public transport (PT) inclusion research as well as future research directions. The study suggests that transport inclusion can help enhance elderly health, social participation, and subjective well-being. It can improve their travel opportunities for active aging in four ways: opportunity accessibility, physical accessibility, age-friendly informationalization, and cost affordability. Future research should pay attention to examining the mechanism of perceived transport inclusion on active aging, expanding the multilevel research space of the capability approach (CA), and exploring the subjective-objective integrated research model for PT inclusion. This research contributes to the overall knowledge of the theoretical and empirical researches on PT inclusion for the elderly and promotes the integrated application of interdisciplinary knowledge in the field.