Transport mobility benefits and quality of life: A time-use perspective of elderly Canadians

It is well accepted that mobility is often closely linked to one's independence, well-being, and quality of life. This research seeks to quantify the impacts of transport mobility and investigate their impacts on the quality of life for non-working elderly Canadians. Statistics Canada's Time-Use data are used to develop contextually-derived time budgets that measure daily exposure to psychological, exercise, and community benefits of transport mobility. These time budget measures are stratified by dimensions of life situation and domains of subjective well-being. Results exhibit significant variations in transport mobility benefits by life situation and subjective well-being indices, and also indicate significant association between transport mobility benefits and quality of life. This research concludes with an evaluation of the potential for future applications of Canada's General Social Survey (GSS) time-use modules towards further development of an index of well-being that incorporates the benefits of transport mobility.