City of St. Louis and St. Louis County Safe Streets Survey with Residents Age 45-Plus

The majority of residents age 45-plus in the City of St. Louis and the County of St. Louis rely on personal vehicles to get to the places they need to go, including work, according to survey results with residents age 45 and older.  Factors that contribute to their decisions on how to get around include how easy it is, how safe it is, and how comfortable it is.

Survey respondents identified gaps in the region’s transit service and street features, which if addressed, can ensure that residents of all ages and abilities are able to get around their communities safely. The greatest unmet needs are well-lit and sheltered bus stops, well-lit and maintained sidewalks, and audio/visual pedestrian crossings.

Ensuring streets are safe in the City of St. Louis and St. Louis County is important to its residents.  More than seven in ten residents age 45 and older say that when it comes to creating streets that are safe for people of all ages and abilities to use in their communities, they would like to see their local elected leaders treat it as a very (51%) or fairly (21%) high priority.

As part of its commitment to ensure streets are safe for people of all ages and abilities to use, AARP Missouri commissioned a survey to learn more about St. Louis City and St. Louis County residents’ opinions on public transit and the streets in their community. The results reported here are based on a survey of 400 St. Louis City and 400 St. Louis County residents age 45 and older conducted between December 3 and December 20, 2015 by landline and cell phone.  For more information contact Kate Bridges at KBridges@aarp.org.