Source: Center for Neighborhood Technology, March 2010

“The unique transportation needs of small town and rural Americans are clear: longer distances between job opportunities, volatile energy prices, and shifting demographics are all impacting the continued prosperity of these communities. While these are similar to the challenges facing metropolitan areas, rural and small-town residents throughout the country are seeking more transportation options and want to ensure that they’re not left behind.

With national gas prices once again topping $3 a gallon, rural Americans are vulnerable to unpredictable gas prices. The gas cost comparison maps on htaindex.org by Center for Neighborhood Technology show just how vulnerable. For instance, the average annual household gas expense in areas outside Billings, Montana was $2,000 in 2000. This spiraled to $5,300 in 2008 when gas reached $4 a gallon. The same impact on household budgets occurred in other rural areas around the country where the difference in annual gas costs between 2000 and 2008 was $3,300 in Rochester, Minnesota; $3,200 Hattiesburg, Mississippi; and $3,100 in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Traditional towns in rural areas offer the opportunity for residents to access everyday goods and services in close proximity, and reduce their need to drive many miles to purchase groceries, access health care, and attend church. A future rural development pattern that reinforces the traditional small town reduces the need for sprawling development and preserves agricultural land…”

For full fact sheet,  click here.