Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Transportation Research Part A journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tra Travel mobility and social participation among older people in a transit metropolis: A socio-spatial-temporal perspective Sylvia Y. He a, ⁎ , Yannie H.Y. Cheung b , Sui Tao c a Department of Geography and Resource Management, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong b Global Studies Programme, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong c Institute of Future Cities, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong ARTICLEINFO Keywords: Economic activity Employment Mobility Older people Travel behaviour Transit-oriented cities ABSTRACT Employment provides resources and opportunities that allow people to participate in economic and social life. To investigate the effect of economic status on transport mobility, we examined the travel behaviour of Hong Kong’s older population from a socio-spatial-temporal perspective. We paid special attention to older people’s economic activity status and examined whether this variable would significantly affect an older adult’s transport mobility. Using the 2011 Hong Kong Travel Characteristics Survey (TCS), we categorised out-of-home trips into three types: manda- tory, maintenance and discretionary. The Poisson and linear regression models were used to estimate the number of trips and travel duration, respectively. Separate models were estimated for different departure times over the course of a day. We found that the travel mobility of older people in Hong Kong was not significantly lower compared with younger people. The steep decline in mobility with ageing as shown in the Western experience was not found in our study. On the other hand, some older people associated with certain socio-economic and geographic characteristics were found to face potential spatial barriers in fulfilling their mobility needs during certain periods of the day. From these findings, a series of implications has been de- termined to inform policy-makers about the potential need to provide special transit services to cater for the out-of-home needs of employed and unemployed older people. As ageing is be- coming a global challenge for many world cities, this research may serve as a reference from an Asian perspective. 1. Introduction The fact that cities have become the main magnet for population growth can be attributed to the various economic and social benefits they offer. In an urban agglomeration, economies of scale (e.g., clustering of firms and industries) often take place and have the potential to enhance productivity considerably and stimulate economic growth (Puga, 2010; Glaeser, 2011; Turok and McGranahan, 2013). In addition, urban areas provide better public facilities, recreational and cultural amenities, and other services have the potential to improve the overall quality of life (Tallon and Bromley, 2004). However, the cost of living also tends to increase as a city grows and this factor can result in an uneven distribution of the aforementioned benefits across different social strata (Withers, 1997; Wang, 2005; Annez and Buckley, 2009). Older adults, being one of the marginalised groups in cities, may be susceptible to social injustice induced by the high cost of https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2018.09.006 Received 22 December 2017; Received in revised form 31 August 2018; Accepted 7 September 2018 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: sylviahe@cuhk.edu.hk (S.Y. He), yanniecheung@cuhk.edu.hk (Y.H.Y. Cheung), s.tao@cuhk.edu.hk (S. Tao). Transportation Research Part A 118 (2018) 608–626 0965-8564/ © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. T