This quantitative study investigated the role of access to transport in the quality of life of older people and compared the predictive power of different measures of access to transport in models of quality of life. Following developmental studies that employed focus groups and street surveys, 303 short, self-completion questionnaires and longer face-to-face interviews were employed to study people aged over 44 years in Renfrewshire and London. Quota sampling by age, household car ownership, gender and study area was employed. Logistic regression modelling showed that the following were significant predictors of quality of life: satisfaction with health, satisfaction with social support, having unmet transport needs, being an ex-driver and reporting a high number of barriers to public transport. The analysis of barriers to public transport use was extended and revealed that private transport users were more likely to report barriers than public transport users and that barriers reported varied by age, gender, location and disability. Discussion of the results includes the relative merits of subjective and objective measures of key variables and why some measures had greater predictive power than others. It is concluded that it is not how one travels that might be important for quality of life but rather whether all of one's transport needs are met or not. Recommendations are made for how the needs of older people can be better met by transport providers and policymakers. This thesis adds to the growing body of research on the quality of life of older people. The research confirms the importance of existing variables in predicting quality of life (perceived health and social support) and also highlights the potential of new, transport related variables (barriers to public transport, being an ex-driver and having unmet transport needs) to predict quality of life in older people. The research therefore addresses a neglected area and contributes to a better understanding of quality of life in old age.