Rural mobility issues

Rural mobility: what is the issue?

In France, between 22 and 40 million people live in rural areas (depending on the definition of a rural area). Although this figure is significant, it must be recognised that the lack of public transport services and the distance from services lead rural people to be very dependent on the personal vehicle. In fact, in rural areas, all trips are mostly made by car, whether it is to take the children to school, go to work, go shopping, or go to the doctor.

Today, although a few initiatives are being taken in some areas, alternatives to the car in rural areas are insufficient.The proposed transport infrastructure is often perfectly designed for large cities, but is poorly adapted to the countryside. Thus, nearly 80% of the French territory has no solution for daily transportation.

Rural mobility issues

Today, rural areas are extremely dependent on cars, and are over-motorised. Rural mobility has therefore become a priority of the LOM law, because the issue is societal, economic and environmental.

Access to services: a priority

Accessibility to services is a major issue in low-density areas. By "services" of daily life, we mean shops, schools, health care services, etc. In rural areas, the time and distance to reach these central points can vary a lot. However, this great disparity highlights a common point: people living in rural areas travel, on average, twice as far as city dwellers to go to work, to the store, or to the doctor. And these distances continue to increase over the years in sparsely populated areas.

Young people dependent on others, motionless seniors

The lack of public transport in rural areas also has an impact on the mobility of certain segments of the population. The over-65s, who make up 23% of the rural population, are forced to stay at home as they lose their independence and lack the means to move around. Thus, nearly 30% of them only leave their homes once a week, or even less. This obligation to stay at home leads to chronic immobility, which has a direct impact on the physical, mental and cognitive abilities of the elderly.

Conversely, those under 25 years of age (who represent 26% of the rural population) are totally dependent on others for transportation. Whether they are not yet old enough to drive, or cannot afford a car, young people are forced to ask for help from family and friends for every trip because of the lack of public transportation.

A budget allocation that is far too large

Transportation is a significant expense, especially when rides are made by personal vehicle. As we have seen, in rural areas, the distances to be covered between home and daily services or work are much greater than in cities. These rides, made by car, generate very substantial expenses (including fuel, insurance, depreciation and vehicle maintenance), which are sometimes four times higher than in urban centres.

While in the city, a monthly subscription to public transport represents only a small part of a French person's expenses, in the countryside, the transport budget can represent up to 20% of a household's expenses.

An alarming environmental impact

Finally, beyond the impact on the population, rural mobility, essentially centered on the automobile, has direct consequences on the environment. When we know that 30% of greenhouse gas emissions come from transport, it is easy to imagine the environmental impact of the massive use of personal vehicles in rural areas.