Who is willing to take transit in the future? Older adults’ perceived challenges and barriers to using public transit across Canada

Offering public transit services that meet the needs of older adults can contribute to their independence and well-being. Based on the Aging in Place survey conducted in March 2023 (N = 3,551), this research explores the barriers preventing older Canadians (65 and older) from using public transit in their area of residence. Specifically, we use factor and cluster analysis to identify non-transit user profiles (N = 491) based on survey participants’ perceptions of public transit and their stated willingness to use it in the next year. We find four distinct groups, including transit inclined, transit is a last resort, transit is not for now, and transit averse. Each group shows variation in the extent to which they are willing to use public transit in the future. To add nuances to our segmentation findings, we conduct a thematic analysis of an open-ended question pertaining to barriers to using public transit in each region. Access to public transit, frequency, travel time, reliability, safety, infrastructure, and convenience are defined as areas for potential improvement, though the prevalence of the concerns did vary between the non-user profiles. The findings from this research can be of interest to decision-makers and public transit agencies as accounting for the heterogeneity of non-transit users can help in directing strategies promoting public transit adoption among older adults in the future.