Introduction

The global-aged population is increasing with every passing day. The population of older adults (aged 60 and above) is estimated to grow by 1.4 billion and about 2.1 billion by 2050. One in six individuals would reach 60 years of age or older by 2030. Two-third of the population over 60 years would reside in middle-income and low-income countries by 2050, and this percentage is rising more quickly as compared to developed nations. Additionally, it has been predicted that eight out of ten older adults worldwide would be residing in developing countries. Moreover, older persons in developing countries are expected to experience a two-times increase, with a population aged 60 or over likely to grow from about 549 million in 2017 to almost 1.3 billion in 2050 (United Nations, 2017a, 2017b; World Health Organization, 2022).

Demographic transitions, such as the increased population of older adults aged 60 or over have caused a structural lag in several developing economies, and the absence of institutional capacities and structures to fulfil the mobility needs of older adults (Jafree et al., 2023). In developing nations, access to public transport is poorer, particularly in South Asia, decreasing older adults' mobility and participation in economic and social welfare prospects (Patil et al., 2020). Many studies have focused on older adults to determine the mobility obstacles pertaining to public transport services. For instance, Jahangir et al. (2021) showed that the older adults often face complications getting on and off of buses due to over-crowding and traffic. Likewise, Ramachandran and D’Souza (2016) underlined that the older adults in India barely use public transport due to diverse barriers covering boarding alighting issue, lack of adequate seating, and congestion. Similarly, Parida et al. (2021) also highlighted the lower mobility of older adults in Bangladesh due to lack of age-sensitive public transport infrastructure.

Pakistan is the 5^th most populous country globally, with a share of the world's population of almost 3% (United Nations, 2022). The country's total population would be about 241 million in 2023, which was 207 million in 2017 (Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, 2023). Moreover, Pakistan was ranked as the 5^th worst country for older adults (Tariq et al., 2023). Since 1990, there has been a demographic shift in Pakistan (Sathar & Casterline, 1998). A constant decrease has been witnessed in mortality with a subsequent increase in life expectancy and a considerable decline in the total fertility rate in recent years (Ali & Hussain, 2002). The population aged 60 and over would grow from 5.8% in 2000 to 7.3% in 2025 and 12.4% in 2050 (Saeed et al., 2011). This estimated increase would raise enormous challenges for urban and transport planners to ensure suitable mobility options for older adults (Hess, 2009).

Lahore is the 2^nd largest city of Pakistan. The city's total population comprised almost 13 million inhabitants, with a total area of about 1772 km² (Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, 2023). District-level census reports indicate that the proportion of older adults varies between 3.2% and 8.9% (Qureshi, 2012). However,the mobility situation for older adults in Lahore has worsened due to rapid urban development and automobile ownership. The city has been growing unplanned due to rapid urbanization, and in 2017, its radius reached a length of 38 kilometers (Nadeem et al., 2021, 2023). In 2017, private automobiles accounted for more than 95% of all motor vehicles, while public transportationcomprisedless than 5% (Punjab Bureau of Statistics, 2017).

Several sectors, such as transport and land use planning, influence world's aged population. Older adults tend to show various traveling behaviors as compared to other society segments (Ravensbergen et al., 2022). Moreover, older adults are likely make fewer and shorter trips (Moniruzzaman et al., 2013). It has been noticed that one-third of the aged people account for unmet mobility needs because they mostly visit family and friends, which goes unfulfilled (Luiu et al., 2016). Therefore, the majority of older adults prefer driving over walking, cycling, and public transportation whentravelling to distant places since cars are an easy and quick mode of transportation for them (Musselwhite & Shergold, 2013). It leads to various adverse outcomes, such as limited activity participation outside the home, reduced quality of life, and poor mental health (Qin et al., 2020). Therefore, sustaining independent mobility is a vital policy among older adults to overcome negative outcomes. However, public transportation is an economical and environmentally friendly travel option for older adults, offering independent mobility (Ravensbergen et al., 2022).

In summary, the population of older adults is increasing, while the share of public transport is declining, creating barriers for older adults. Therefore, it is imperative to investigate the challenges of using public transport in people aged 60 or above. Therefore, the current study aimed to examine the barriers to using public transport among older adults utilizing a psychological perspective. The remaining sections of the study have been structured as follows. Section 2 discusses the brief literature on barriers to using public transport in older adults. Section 3 focuses on research methodology, comprising sampling technique, measurement scales, data collection, and approach to data analysis. Section 4 offers the results of this study, whereas conclusion and recommendations have been discussed in the latter section.

Literature Review

Older adults may experience social exclusion due to a variety of psychosocial issues that prevent them from using public transportation (Al-Rashid, Goh et al., 2021). These obstacles comprise attitudes, habits, perceived norms, neighborhood social limitations, and personal ability (Al-Rashid et al., 2023). Older adults frequently find fixed-route transport as feasible, however, experience momentous obstacles (Peck, 2010). Car usage is normal in older adults due to little public transit support (Buys et al., 2012). However, inadequate public transportation may contribute to social isolation for those with mobility issues (Lamanna et al., 2019). Older adults experience various problems with public transport including lack of affordability, accessibility, reliability, and frequency (Bryanton et al., 2010; Curl et al., 2014; Nordbakke & Schwanen, 2015). Haustein & Siren (2015) identified various factors in older people's mobility patterns, such as individual characteristics (gender, age), socioeconomic aspects (income, education, employment status, retirement), living environment (built environment), health, car access, and attitudinal features. Sun and Lau (2021) offered a conceptual framework for older adults' mobility based on seven determinants, such as physical, psychosocial, environmental, and monetary factors, service community, and surrounding area. Moniruzzaman et al. (2013) found remarkable geographical changeability in the older adult's travel behavior in Montreal. They concluded that older adults with different demographic and socioeconomic profiles highlight significant intra-urban variability in walking and neighborhood design variables in affecting older people's mobility.

In literature, most past studies have revealed that older adults preferred to use cars rather than public transport. Szeto et al. (2017) examined spatiotemporal travel characteristics of older adults in Hong Kong. It was concludedthat as people aged, they made shorter journeys, using taxis more often than public transportation, and the automated trip rate dropped significantly (up to 74%). Sun and Lau (2021) investigated the barriers in a walking environment when older adults approached public transport in Hong Kong, such as narrow sidewalks, footbridges and undergrounds, long walking, seamless connection of escalators or lifts, pavement evenness, railing between road and pavement, street crossing, traffic signal time, and seat and rest areas. In European countries, older adults tend to use taxi and cars considerably than rail and buses (Haustein & Siren, 2015). Similarly, older adults used cars for most trips rather than walking and public transit in the United Kingdom and the United States (Ahmad et al., 2019). In comparison, older adults in China preferred to travel on foot (49%) and public transport (43%), while the share of car use was less than 1% (Hu et al., 2013). They offered various suggestions to improve older adults' mobility including transport and land use integration, sidewalks and other transport infrastructure improvements, and public transport accessibility.

To conclude, several studies focused on challenges to using public transport in older adults in developed countries, however, little is known in developing countries. Therefore, the current study contributed to the existing literature and examined the barriers to using public transport among people aged 60 or over in terms of psychological perspective in the setting of developing economies, particularly South East Asian countries, such as Lahore, Pakistan.

Methodology

Data

Lahore Metropolitan is delineated into ten zones including a containment zone. Each zone is further subdivided into union councils, referred to as blocks. The current study strategically focused on two specific zones, that is, Gulberg and Data Gunj Buksh. Six Union Councils were selected from these zones using a multistage sampling technique. In Gulberg, the chosen union councils included Model Town, Garden Town, and Gulberg III, while in Data Gunj Buksh, the study encompassed Mozang, Shadman, and Anarkali. The geographical distribution of these selected zones and Union Councils is illustrated in Figure 1.

The current study centered around the samples of 384 people aged 60 or above drawn from the selected union councils in Lahore. The selection process employed a simple random sampling technique, ensuring that each individual in the target population has an equal chance of inclusion. A questionnaire survey administered in-person was employed to get the data.

Figure 1

Location of Study Area

Measurement Scales

The current study analyzed two components of perceived norms, such as social and personal. A 6-item scale was employed by Forward (2014) to analyze the social norms of public transport use. A four-item scale from (Bamberg et al., 2007) was used to calculate the personal norms of public transport use. The experiential and instrumental dimensions of attitudes about public transportation were measured using the seven-item scale developed by Wan et al. (2017). Fishbein et al. (2001) defined personal ability as comprising self-efficacy and perceived behavioral control. Perceived behavioral control was measured with a four-item scale, while self-efficacy was measured with a 13-item scale adapted from Chen et al. (2019) and de Geus et al. (2019). Likert scales, ranging from 1 for "strongly disagree" to 5 for "strongly agree," were utilized for all of the scale items. A higher score indicates a greater degree of agreement with the items on the scale.

Data Analysis

Descriptive statistics were used to measure the socioeconomic characteristics of survey respondents. Tests were conducted using SPSS software to determine the differences between independent groups, with an emphasis on mean differences in psychosocial factors across a range of demographics, comprising gender, age, and socioeconomic status. This process likely involved conducting statistical tests, such as t-tests and ANOVA, to ascertain if there were significant disparities in psychosocial factors among distinct groups of older adults.

Results

Descriptive Statistics

The respondents involved in the current study comprised older adults selected from six union council areas in Lahore, Pakistan. The descriptive statistics showed that 51.8% of respondents were males and 48.2% were females. Most respondents were 60-64, while only 9.6% were 75 years old and above. About 30.8% of respondents were associated with the nuclear family structure, whereas 69.2% belonged to a joint family system. Roughly, 49.7% of respondents were unable to work or were unemployed, 37.7% were retired, and a negligible percentage was employed in full-time or part-time jobs. Approximately, 20% of respondents were illiterate, 39.8% had acquired high school qualifications, 23.9% were graduates, and only 14% had acquired post-graduate education. About 35.9% of respondents had income below PKR 25,000, 47.7% between PKR 25,000 and 74,999, and 6.2% between PKR 75,000 and 100,000. However, only 10.2% of the respondents had a monthly income of over PKR 100,000.

Different aspects of traveling characteristics of older adults were also identified. Findings suggested that majority of the older adults preferred using private transport modes, such as cars and motorbikes, while only 26% preferred using public transport. Albeit, public transport service was accessible for majority of the respondents within walking distance (500 m), the frequency of travelling with these modes was scarce. Thus, it showed that certain accessibility issues restrict the usability of public transportation modes among older adults.

Psychosocial Barriers

Perceived Norms

According to the measurement scale for social norms, the higher score represents more agreement among respondents. Overall, the results indicated respondents' disagreement with the statements provided, with a mean score of 2.071. It showed negative perceptions of older adults towards social norms of public transport. Thus, the analysis shows that older adults' peers and caretakers do not prefer public transport for daily activities. It is mainly because the existing public transport services in Lahore do not consider accessibility challenges and associated safety and privacy issues significant for older adults. Hence, due to various challenges, adults also receive less significant acceptance of public transport usage from their peers, limiting independent mobility.

Similarly, older adults generally showed disagreement towards the statements of personal norms, with an overall mean value of 1.654. The older adults agreed slightly more with the interjected norms than the integrated ones. Therefore, it can be revealed that older adults in Pakistan possess minimal moral obligations for public transport use. Notably, their beliefs do not inspire public transport use. Similarly, they do not anticipate guilt (such as feeling the environmental complications) connected with using private vehicles. Thus, the beliefs and anticipated pride in having or using personal vehicles might affect public transportation acceptance among older adults.

Personal Attitude

An attitude imitates a personal assessment of a given behavior's perceived advantages and disadvantages. Attitude towards public transport was measured to assess the perception of older adults in choosing public travel mode. The scale used to measure the public transport-related attitude depicted that the greater the score, the greater the agreement with the items would be. Table 1 shows a varying level of agreement with the experiential and instrumental attitudes. The analysis noted that the survey respondents positively perceived the environmental benefits (that is, instrumental features) of taking public transportation. Still, they were less satisfied with its experiential aspects. It can be said that although, older adults recognize the benefits of using public transport services, its poor service quality, and lack of safety, privacy and accessibility issues shape the overall negative attitudes towards public transport.

Personal Ability

Based on the concept of Fishbein et al. (2001), personal ability (including self-efficacy and perceived behavioral control) connected with public transport travel was measured. A 17-item scale was used to examine the personal ability of older adults. Higher score indicates greater behavioral control and self-efficacy with public transport usage. Descriptive statistics (provided in Table 1) showed that older adults possess little agreement with the perceived behavioral control (mean = 3.026 + 1.061). Similarly, self-efficacy towards public transport use is relatively low (mean = 2.356), where the external factors are more effective than internal factors. The analysis pointed out that older adults might experience barriers in an external and internal environment. For instance, older adults do not perceive the existing public transport services as user-friendly. Moreover, they feel unsafe while accessing these public transport modes, consequently affecting their ability to use public transportation.

Table 1

Descriptive Statistics for Psychosocial Factors

Test of Differences

Gender

Table 2 indicates gender differences in personal ability, public transport-related norms, and attitudes. t-test showed statistically significant gender differences between mean scores of 'public transport-related norms and attitudes among older adults. Therefore, it could be revealed that social norms and attitudes towards public transportation might be more substantial for older women than older men. The key reason for using public transportation is the socio-cultural aspects influencing older women. However, older adults' ability to use public transit showed no significant gender differences.

Table 2

Gender Differences among Psychosocial Factors

Note. p < .05.

Age

Table 3 summarizes the statistical differences of mean concerning age in the perceptions of socio-personal norms, personal attitudes, and ability to use public transportation. While determining the age of older adults, one-way ANOVA depicted the non-significant statistical differences for perceived norms of public transportation (F (4, 379) = 0.538, p = 0.709), and personal ability of older adults (F (4, 379) = 0.820, p = 0.519). However, only statistically significant differences were observed for public transport-related attitudes (F (4, 379) = 6.012, p = 0.001). Regarding the attitudes towards public transportation, Tukey's post hoc further revealed only a statistically significant difference between the age groups of 60 - 64 and 65 - 69 (p = 0.001).

Table 3

Differences in Psychosocial Factors Concerning Age

Note. p < .05.

Socio-Economic Status

Table 4 shows the difference between different income groups of older adults in personal ability, perceived norms, and public transportation attitudes. According to one-way ANOVA, the statistically significant differences were observed only for perceived norms [F (2, 381) = 3.552, p = 0.037]. Nevertheless, there was no statistically significant difference among income groups for other psychosocial barriers.

Table 4

Differences in Psychosocial Factors Concerning Income Level

Note. p < .05.

A post hoc Tukey test showed that people with low and middle incomes differed significantly at p = 0.041 for public transport-related social norms. It follows that older adults with limited incomes may have favorable social norms and prefer to use public transport modes as compared to middle and high-income groups. However, on the other hand, all three income groups possessed statistically significant differences in the personal norms of public transport use. In this regard, Tukey's test revealed that the differences in perceptions of personal norms between low-income and middle-income groups were more significant (p = 0.004) than in the low-and high-income groups (p = 0.023).

Regarding the educational backgrounds of older adults, one-way ANOVA provided exciting results. Table 5 highlights the statistical differences in personal ability, perceptions of norms, and attitudes towards public transportation concerning educational backgrounds. Results suggested that among all the factors, only perceived norms of public transportation differed significantly across the educational experiences of older adults at p = 0.041. Additionally, it revealed that older adults with diverse academic backgrounds perceive public transport-related social and personal norms differently.

Table 5

Differences in Psychosocial Factors Concerning Education

Note. p < .05.

In looking at older adults' employment status, the results of one-way ANOVA showed statistically significant differences for all psychosocial factors (Table 6). The results determined that the perceived norms [F (3, 380) = 3.098, p = 0.036], attitude to public transportation [F (3, 380) = 2.943, p = 0.043], and personal ability [F (3, 380) = 4.298, p = 0.009] differed quite significantly across older adults of varied employment or occupation status.

Table 6

Differences in Psychosocial Factors Concerning Employment Status

Note. p < .05.

A post hoc Tukey's test revealed the detailed differences among various employment status groups. A post hoc Tukey test showed that full-time workers and retired older adults differed significantly at p = 0.043 and p = 0.074, respectively, for the perceived norms and attitudes to public transportation. However, the personal ability of older adults differed quite substantially from their employment status. Significant differences were observed between full-time and part-time workers (p = 0.090) and between retired older adults and full-time employment (p = 0.094).

Discussion

The current study distinctly examined the older adults' experiences of psychosocial factors related to public transportation. Statistical analysis revealed overall disagreement with the scale items provided in the social norm and personal norm variables. It showed the negative perceptions of older adults towards the perceived norms of public transport use. The descriptive statistics also demonstrated that the overall mean score for the public transport-related attitude was lower than the average, which indicates the negative attitude of older adults towards public transport modes. Similarly, the descriptive statistics indicated a higher disagreement with the self-efficacy and perceived behavioral control statements. Hence, it indicates that older adults in Pakistan have low confidence to deal with the public transport travel environment due to the challenges in accessing the public transport facilities.

To further reveal these barriers, the statistically significant differences concerning gender, age, and socioeconomic status were derived using a t-test and one-way ANOVA for each psychosocial factor. Results showed that the psychosocial barriers vary considerably across gender, age, and socioeconomic status. The findings illustrated that the social and personal normative barriers are more profound among older women than their male counterparts. Moreover, the findings are in-line with the existing literature which also demonstrated that the perceptions of social and personal norms significantly influence travel choice behaviors among older women (Al-Rashid, Harumain et al., 2021; Nordbakke, 2013). T-test and ANOVA results further indicated that the older women had a more negative attitude towards public transportation use. The results support the existing research (Namgung & Akar, 2014), which suggests that gender has a significant role in shaping the public transport-related attitude.

Regarding the age, the results indicated that statistically significant differences were only found for personal attitudes. It means that the more the age, the more negative attitude towards public transport services would be. In other words, the perceived inconvenience, fatigue, unreliability, and lack of availability of public transport services tend to have a more negative influence on aged people than their younger counterparts. Therefore, the more the age, the more they would feel difficulty in using public transportation and more they would feel wrong about public transport services. In line with (Dabelko-Schoeny et al., 2021), the findings of the current study also revealed that situational barriers significantly impact older adults’ attitudes and intentions to use their private cars instead of public transport.

Older adults with lower income and less education perceived the norms positively and were more likely to use public transport services. These findings are also in-line with the existing literature (Loukaitou-Sideris et al., 2018) which states that the low-income older adults are more interested in using public transport services and can serve as a sustainable mode provided that the associated barriers are comprehensively addressed. Hence, the findings revealed the interplay between physical and social environment which has a significant impact on older adults’ perceptions to use public transport services.

Conclusion

The overall objective of the current research was to analyze public transport-related psychosocial barriers among older adults. The significant contribution of this research is introducing the concept of the psychological barriers to public transportation in Pakistan. Previous studies conducted in the local context have primarily focused on the physical and situational aspects of public transport. By utilizing the psychological perspective, the current study provided novel and in-depth insights into how socio-environmental constraints negatively impact older adults' mobility with public transportation.

Data was collected from the selected union councils within the Lahore metropolitan, and a total sample of 384 aged 60 or over was included in this study. The descriptive statistics revealed that majority of the older adults disagreed with the statements provided in the scale items for psychosocial factors. The research encapsulated that psychosocial factors including poorly perceived norms, negative beliefs and attitudes, and lack of personal ability, negatively influence older adults' use of public transportation. Thus, these psychosocial barriers limit public transport usage in older adults.

Recommendations

The research recommends that soft and hard transport interventions are crucial to inducing positive public transport services among older adults. Some examples of soft transport measures include voluntary change measures, cognitive and behavioral approaches, and mobility management solutions. Instead, hard transport measures include infrastructure improvements, planning and operation of public transport services, exorbitant taxes for private vehicles, and car bans or restrictions in central business districts. The potential for soft transport policy measures to encourage and motivate individuals to switch to public transportation services increases with the implementation of hard transport policy measures. Therefore, age-responsive strategies leading directed essential initiatives and growing grassroots voluntary selection of public transport means are crucial to supporting the independent mobility among older adults.

Conflict of Interest

The author of the manuscript has no financial or non-financial conflict of interest in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript.

Data Availability Statement

The data associated with this study will be provided by the corresponding author upon request.

Acknowledgement

"This study is a part of the doctoral research of the first author, conducted at the Faculty of Built Environment, Universiti Malaya, Malaysia. The authors also acknowledge the financial support provided by the Higher Education Commission (HEC), Pakistan (SAP # 50035725) for conducting this research."