Project Description

A Sustainable Transport system requires consideration of the changes occurring in society and the manner in which these changes may impact on the transport system. A major demographic change occurring in most western countries, including Australia, is the "greying" of the population. While the NSW population will increase by 19% from 2001 to 2031, the population over 60 will grow by 80%. In addition to growing in size, the over-60s of the future will be more mobile, with higher car ownership and licence holding. Unfortunately, older drivers also have higher crash involvement rates. The combination of more older drivers on the road, and a higher rate of crash involvement, has important implications for the overall road safety situation in the future, creating an environment which is simply not sustainable.

This project provides an evaluation of the consequences of an ageing population for the future safety of the transport system in Sydney. The analysis demonstrates that known demographic changes will place severe pressures on the feasibility of continuing reductions in road crashes over the next 30 years. Substantial reductions in crash involvement rates within demographic groups will be needed to counter the increases in the numbers of people in demographic groups which have a higher crash involvement rate.