A Social Report for Ireland Volume II - the NESC Website

older people 205Respondents were asked to score the quality of the national public transport serviceon a scale of 1 ‘very poor quality’ to 10 ‘very high quality’. The results are presented inFigure 8.29. Older people in Ireland scored the quality of public transport here just belowthe EU25 average at 6.1. The EU25 average was 6.4. The quality of public transport wasranked highest by older people in Finland and Luxembourg and lowest in Portugal andthe Czech Republic.Figure 8.29 Views on the Quality of Public Transport by 65 Year Oldsand Over, EU Comparisons, 2003 131Mean onScale 0-1010865.75.9 5.9 6 6 6.1 6.1 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.3 6.4 6.6 6.6 6.9 7 7 7.17.47.5 7.68.147 720PortugalCzech RepublicUKFranceItalyGreeceIrelandNetherlandsPolandHungaryLithuaniaEU25EstoniaLatviaSpainGermanySwedenAustriaBelgiumDenmarkFinlandLuxembourgSource European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, 2004 (based on European Quality of LifeSurvey, 2003).As people age they become more reliant on public and other forms of transport as theirability to drive themselves declines. For example, while 84 per cent of men and 55 percent of women aged 60 to 69 held a full drivers licence in 2006, only 44 per cent of menand 13 per cent of women aged 80 and over did so. Lack of appropriate transport canbe a barrier to health, shopping, social engagement, wider participation and learning.Just over one third (35 per cent) of heads of household aged 65 and over had difficultyaccessing public transport compared to 26 per cent of all heads of household. Onequarter of older heads of household had difficulty accessing a shop that sells groceriesor a post office (23 per cent and 26 per cent, respectively), compared to 16 per cent and12 per cent, respectively, of all heads of households (CSO, 2009e: 22). Older women areparticularly vulnerable and their share of the population is likely to increase in futureyears (see section 8.3). Access to transport is especially critical in rural areas whereconventional transport services may be limited and people may have difficulty gettingto the bus stop. Non-conventional services, such as the Rural Transport Programme, canplay an important role here. 137 There is also scope for other innovative approaches to bedeveloped.136. Data should be treated with caution as some cell sizes may be small.137. The Rural Transport Programme is being reviewed by the Department of Transport.