Support to safeguard local shop and service provision may help halt further decline in walking and cycling, as will measures designed to improve road safety and reduce traffic impacts. Developing a typology of rural areas and a range of optimum transport solutions could assist rural transport policy making. Eight theoretical rural transport typologies have been devised based on geographical conditions and dominant transport concerns. The typologies include two peri-urban rural areas, three contrasting market towns with hinterlands and three remote areas with different characteristics. The typologies require further refinement, in particular to emphasise socio-economic differences between rural areas.
More detailed information is required to shed light on the diversity of rural transport conditions.
Conclusion Households in rural areas are more reliant on the car than elsewhere, though there is little evidence to suggest that they are appreciably more dependent on the car. Increasing traffic levels and slower reduction of casualty rates have led to mounting concern about rural road safety. The assumption that high fuel prices impact unfairly on rural communities needs to be qualified. The fact that rural areas vary in their character and in the transport problems they confront cannot be overemphasised.