What are the present travel patterns of elderly city dwellers, and what have been the long term changes in those patterns? The ageing of the population and changes in the lifestyles of pensioners make it interesting to study changes in the daily mobility of those aged over 60. For this purpose, we use data from household surveys carried out in the Lyon conurbation in 1976, 1985 and 1994. A longitudinal study of the successive cohorts enables us to analyse the changes, and to separate generation effects and period effects from ageing effects. The overall number of movements is found to be little changed. On the other hand, there have been major changes in the choices of transport mode. With the recent arrival at retirement age of those who have been very accustomed to using cars, local journeys have given way to longer trips that are made by car, with dispersion of an individual's activities over a large part of the urban area.
