How you get around can mean a lot for your retirement quality of life. 

If you’re looking to get your kicks on Route 66 … in a pasture just outside of Amarillo, Texas, there exists a distinctly American thing. It's an intersection – of sorts – of art, commentary, industry, kitsch and the great roadside attraction. We’re talking, of course, of Cadillac Ranch, which may be even more famous than the world’s biggest ball of twine in Cawker City, Kansas.

Opinions differ, but as a symbol of America, Cadillac Ranch may be tough to beat, lying somewhere near the center of our cultural Venn diagram: a Statue of Liberty with a four-speed hydramatic transmission. And America is car country, no doubt. Excepting a handful of public transit enclaves, the car is how we get around, from town to town, or even when we need to get out and unwind with no particular place to go.

In retirement, the car-centeredness of our lives doesn’t change, unless one moves somewhere that has made moving around without a car more convenient. While more Americans are making plans to “age in place” through accessibility measures in the home, long-term care insurance and home health support, the more “in place” we wish to be, the more thoughtful about transportation we need to be.

Location, location, location

Whether you find yourself pining for the urbs, the ‘burbs or a country place that no one knows about, it’s important to consider not only your proximity to essential amenities, but also how you get there. Mobility is a broad topic, including personal mobility aspects such as physical dexterity, balance and endurance, but in a country as physically large as the US, the topic of mobility is also a practical matter largely focused on the personal automobile.

While there are efforts to move cities past the post-war, car-centric urban design paradigm, it won’t be quick. In the meantime, while the world sorts that out, we’ve got places to be.

Lifestyle, cost-of-living and access to nature has drawn an increasing number of retirees to rural communities, where mobility can be a major challenge. Distances to amenities, limited non-car transportation and limited access to advanced medical services are key considerations for aging residents. Studies also show that people living in rural areas tend to walk less than in urban environments, which can have long-term health and mobility implications.

Anecdotes from the ongoing surge of urban-to-rural retirees are a mixed bag, with local newspapers reporting everything from happy campers to sour city folk to culture clashes – the whole “Green Acres” experience.

On the other side of the spectrum, urban areas tend to have more abundant amenities, healthcare resources and transit options, but can be prohibitively expensive – and the pace of crowded urban centers can pose other challenges for seniors. Housing in particular is an urban challenge, as price increases have consistently outpaced wealth and income growth. Renting can be a poor option for seniors, as prices stay aligned to an increasingly expensive market while earnings do not. 

Even with the practical differences, it’s hard to imagine someone choosing a retirement homestead based on whether the local bus service is any good. Rather, it might be more productive to think of it as a planning and management problem.

Or, as AAA writes in its senior transportation planner:

“Older adults can expect to live well beyond their ability to drive safely. For the first time in history, we must plan for the possibility of our retirement from driving just as we plan for our retirement from work.”

A tough question

Driving carries certain risks. However, not driving also carries certain risks.

It has been well-studied and documented that older people who no longer drive make fewer trips to the doctor, and substantially fewer trips for meals out, entertainment and social gatherings. Taken together, a lack of mobility contributes to health problems, social isolation and depression, which peak in our later years.

This leads to one of the most difficult questions people must make as they get older:

“Is it time to give up the keys?”

This is most often a personal decision – states tend to be accommodative to older drivers, or at least not particularly concerned with advanced age. It’s uncommon for the government to revoke driving privileges. Meanwhile, older drivers are often responsive to their limitations; avoiding high-speed, congested suburban arterial roads and staying off the roads during rush hour, for example. As a cohort, older drivers tend to be safe.

But things can change fast, and it’s good to be on top of it.

Senior advocacy and driving safety groups have concocted a number of stratagems for approaching the question, from nonbinding contracts with oneself to give up the wheel if certain conditions are met, and “advanced driving directives,” which can be binding. Couples may sign one together.

Directives may look at issues related to:

• Physical mobility and endurance
• Eyesight
• Cognitive impairment and dementia
• Debilitating health issues

Regardless of the method, a successful approach needs to look beyond probation and into empowerment:

“When I stop driving, how will I maintain my way of life?”

Research shows that seniors who have robust support networks like family, public transit and alternative mobility resources (like the means for car services) are more willing to give up driving when it becomes too difficult and dangerous.

AAA offers one such resource that approaches mobility as a shared responsibility among the whole family. If the adult kids are so concerned about their elder parents’ driving, it makes sense to get from them a commitment to help.

The planning and management problem

AAA outlines three ways people can maintain their mobility and independence in retirement longer.

The first step is prevention – healthy physical and mental habits like daily exercise, diet and social connection.

The second tip is to get familiar with alternative transportation methods before they become necessary. Some of these include:

Commercial car services

Ride-sharing companies like Uber and Lyft have made private car service more affordable and accessible outside suburban and rural areas. Before needing to rely on it, however, it’s good to become familiar with the limitations, pricing structures and reliability in your area. Wheelchair users in particular have reported consistent challenges with getting drivers to follow through on providing transportation. 

Public transit

Reading and planning trips around bus and train schedules is a skill that needs to be developed. Most area transit authorities have representatives to help you get a handle on it. Local public transit agencies are also a good resource for discovering other transportation resources, often serving as an information hub for governmental, commercial and nonprofit services.

Dedicated senior transit

Either operated by the local transit authority, or by state and federally funded charitable organizations, senior and paratransit services exist in communities across the country. While the scope of each organization is different, most will provide scheduled rides to medical facilities and shopping centers. ITNAmerica is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to offering resources to aid in senior mobility, and maintains a database of local senior transportation services called Ride in Sight at rideinsight.org.

Friends and family

Many older adults opt to move closer to their kids in retirement, not necessarily for mobility reasons – but it’s certainly a perk. Studies show that friends and family can be central to a mobility plan, but it’s a good idea to discuss expectations ahead of time.

AAA’s third piece of advice is to take advantage of resources like driver refresher courses. Newer cars have a battery of new safety features that can be disorienting to drivers unfamiliar with them like lane departure warnings, adaptive cruise control, automated emergency braking and driving assistance. AAA and AARP offer courses to help make sense of them.

Good for seniors, good for all

In a policy paper titled “Creating the Transportation System We Want,” the AARP posits that a world that’s easier for seniors to get around in is easier for everyone.

Transportation investments made in the past 100 years “have resulted in tremendous mobility for many Americans,” the advocacy group wrote. “But they have also left many isolated. One-third of US residents do not drive. … For many of these individuals, accessing transportation can range from a minor inconvenience to an insurmountable barrier.”

The organization outlines a number of imperatives to build a transportation network that works for everyone. Principles include multi-modality – giving people options for how to get from place to place – accessibility, a commitment to independence, safety and impact measurement, among others. Transportation methods may be as exotic as “mobility as a service” offerings, in which the idea of car ownership is set aside for transportation network subscriptions or as simple as making sure sidewalks and crosswalks are suited to the task. While changes may not impact the primacy of the car in American cities, they may reduce the essentiality of it.

“These conceptual building blocks will help to ensure that the disruptive technologies emerging today can achieve their potential to vastly increase mobility for older adults and other… users of the transportation system,” AARP wrote.

One consistent criticism of would-be builders of tomorrow is how rarely they connect with the people who would presumably benefit from the world they wish to create.

Self-driving vehicles, as an example, are potentially life-changing for people who don’t drive, including many elders. A 2021 Pew Research Center study found that people over the age of 50 were much more skeptical of autonomous cars than younger people, with 74% responding that they would not like to ride in an autonomous vehicle.

Transportation planners are hoping to help people get past that suspicion. One effort comes from the University of Florida, which worked with state transportation officials and a company offering autonomous downtown shuttle services to gauge older users’ opinions of the service. In three different communities, researchers conducted surveys with people before and after rides in an autonomous vehicle. The results showed riders had a much more positive perception of the experience after the trip, “particularly within the areas of intentions to use, trust and safety.”

This kind of engagement will be critical in ensuring that services and machinery meets the needs of the community, researchers said.

Quality of life goals

Mobility is a topic under the big tent of longevity planning, an emergent area of post-retirement wealth management that is principally concerned with quality of life, independence and security. Even without putting pen to paper, you can start thinking about your long-term mobility goals. As you think through it, ask yourself:

• What is my plan if I can no longer drive?
• Do I need to make changes now, or can I wait?
• Do I have the support network I need?
• If not, how to I create it?
• What can I do today to prepare me for it?

Longevity planning is not about limiting your choices when you reach certain milestones, but rather about adapting your environment to support the lifestyle you desire. It is an understanding that people would rather make decisions for themselves than have decisions made for them.

If life is a highway, take the wheel and steer.

Sources: Washington Post, AAA, AARP, University of Florida, The Urban Institute, McKenzie & Company, Nonprofit Quarterly, National Rural Health Association, U.S. National Institutes of Health.