Access, Assistance, and Mobility in Later Life: Housing, Transportation, and Environmental Constraints on Travel

Mobility is central to aging in place, yet older adults’ transportation experiences are shaped by the interaction of housing conditions, transportation systems, and functional capacity. Drawing on person–environment exchange perspectives in environmental gerontology, this study examines how housing-related cost pressures and transportation disadvantage jointly influence transportation dependence and realized mobility among adults aged 55 and older. Using survey data, we estimate multivariable regression models and test moderation and mediation pathways to clarify underlying mechanisms. Transportation disadvantage—defined as the cumulative presence of car unavailability, lack of smartphone access, and reliance on assistance for travel—emerges as a strong and consistent predictor of reliance on dependent transportation modes and destination-specific mobility. Greater transportation disadvantage is associated with increased medical trip-making and reduced social participation, while grocery trip frequency shows no independent association once access constraints are accounted for. In contrast, combined housing and transportation cost burden and housing tenure exhibit no direct, conditional, or indirect effects on mobility outcomes. These findings highlight the central role of proximal access constraints in shaping mobility in later life and underscore the limits of cost-based affordability measures for understanding everyday transportation experiences among older adults.