It’s true: public transport is less widespread in the countryside than in the cities. And that will not get any better for the next twenty years. Yet work, shops and schools are hardly less accessible for the residents of these areas than for city dwellers. At least, in their own experience. Urban and rural people are generally just as satisfied with the accessibility of what they need in their lives.
The Knowledge Institute for Mobility Policy (KIM) draws this conclusion from research among more than three thousand people. Perhaps policymakers should not only look at hard figures regarding bus and rail connections, compared to jobs and shops in a certain area, the KIM suggests. They might sometimes be busy solving ‘problems and bottlenecks that the residents may not perceive as such’.
People ‘feel left out’
That conclusion is remarkable. Just last week, three advisory councils published the report Every region counts, regarding the differences in opportunities for urban and rural residents. Public transport also played a role in this. That is ‘below standard’ in some regions and many people in the region ‘feel left out’. Among other things, the councils pointed to the accessibility of care: “Even within thirty minutes, not a single GP can be reached in large parts of Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, but also in the Kop van Noord-Holland, Twente and the Veenkoloniën.” The elderly in particular suffer from this.
Possibly, a KIM spokesperson responds. “Most people are satisfied with the accessibility of work and shops,” he says. “But there are always people for whom that does not apply.” As an explanation, the KIM also points out that people in rural areas may have deliberately weighed this up: prefer a large house in a beautiful region, for example, and then use less public transport. Most get into the car without complaining.
Working close to home
Indeed, the KIM also sees, public transport is already under pressure, especially in the countryside, and certainly where the population is shrinking, that will not change. The researchers deduce this from scenarios with different degrees of growth between now and 2040. The car will remain the ‘dominant mode of transport’ in rural areas, they argue. People without a car need a safety net of tailor-made public transport, with small vans or taxis. The KIM also advocates encouraging the use of electric bicycles and constructing fast cycling routes.
In the meantime, the cities are facing completely different accessibility problems, the KIM predicts. There, the increasingly busy traffic threatens to get stuck, causing environmental damage and noise nuisance. The solution can better be sought in bringing living and working together: if people find work close to home, they can get there on foot or by bicycle.
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