More Than A Minibus: The Reality Of Rural Transport

This week is Community Transport Week, a nationwide celebration of the extraordinary role that community transport plays in helping people stay connected.

Across rural England, community transport schemes are a lifeline, providing journeys that enable residents to reach healthcare, work, shops and social activities where often no other options exist. The Community Transport Association’s 2025 theme, “More Than a Minibus,” highlights the volunteers, coordinators and passengers whose dedication keeps rural life moving.

Yet behind these stories of local commitment lies a widening transport gap. The State of Rural Services 2025 report, published by Rural England CIC, finds that residents in rural areas travel further, pay more, and have far fewer public transport choices than those living in towns and cities. Private vehicles continue to dominate rural travel, particularly in villages, hamlets and isolated dwellings, with public transport accounting for less than 1% of journeys in some areas. Bus passenger numbers fell sharply during the pandemic and have not returned to earlier levels, contributing to what the report describes as “historic lows” in service coverage.

The report notes that while community transport has been promoted as a means of addressing these gaps, many schemes “remain insufficiently widespread and open to public use to ameliorate the widespread decline in public bus services.” The findings underline how limitations in transport provision affect access to employment, education, healthcare and social participation across much of rural England.

The Rural Services Network’s Delivering for All campaign reinforces these concerns. It highlights that urban authorities budgeted to spend over 3.6 times more per head on subsidised bus routes than rural authorities in 2024/25, and that over half of small rural towns in parts of the North East and South West have become, or are at risk of becoming, transport deserts. The campaign calls for:

• Fair, long-term funding for rural and community transport schemes, including support for socially necessary rural bus routes.
• Integration of rural mobility into the national transport strategy, ensuring that rural travel is considered alongside economic growth and environmental goals.
• Recognition of social value, so that investment decisions take account not only of passenger numbers but also of the wider wellbeing and inclusion benefits that rural transport provides.

Kerry Booth, Chief Executive, Rural Services Network: As Community Transport Week shines a light on the people and partnerships that make rural journeys possible, it also reminds us of a vital truth, transport is not just about movement, it’s about access, inclusion and opportunity. Everybody deserves to reach work, school, healthcare and community life, no matter where they live.

Have your say! The Rural Services Network is inviting residents in villages, small towns and rural areas to share their views through the Delivering for All Survey. Your responses will directly inform Government, MPs and service providers about what rural communities really need. Take the survey here.