Trafikomläggningars påverkan på Göteborgs äldre människors rörlighet

Abstract

Due to the construction of Västlänken in central Gothenburg, several traffic diversions have been established back and forth. In order to provide all residents with a safe and accessible environment, the city must be planned to function for everyone. In this study, elderly people have been identified as an exposed group of people regarding the possibility of moving in a traffic environment. Gothenburg is taking the UN policy regarding the insurance that people with some form of disability have equal conditions regarding accessibility in traffic into account. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the connection between temporary traffic diversions due to construction and the mobility of exposed people. A quantitative research in the form of a survey has been chosen to fulfil the purpose and answer the two research questions. The survey was composed partially from early assumptions and partly from previous research, thus the study was conducted by an abductive approach. The respondents were elderly people residing in central Gothenburg. The survey containing 13 questions was answered by 77 people in central parts of Gothenburg. The survey gave a deeper understanding regarding how older and exposed people are affected by traffic diversions. Furthermore, several quotes managed to be collected in order to concretize older people's experience of traffic diversions. After collecting and compiling the data from the survey an analysis could be carried out by seeing patterns and correlations between temporary traffic diversions and the mobility of elderly and exposed people. Firstly, it can be concluded that elderly people are strongly affected by traffic diversions. On the other hand, it can be concluded that elderly people move regardless of traffic diversions. It is difficult to state a main conclusion in this study though it can be concluded that elderly people have had to change their transport behaviour, which in turn has had consequences.