Current transport strategy in the UK is strongly urban-focused, with assumptions that technological advances in mobility will simply trickle down into rural areas. This article challenges such a view and instead draws on rural development thinking aligned to a “Smart Countryside” which emphasises the need for place-based approaches. Survey and interview methods are employed to develop a framework of rural needs associated with older people, younger people and businesses. This framework is employed to assess a range of mobility innovations that could most effectively address these needs in different rural contexts. In presenting visions of future rural mobility, the article also identifies key infrastructure as well as institutional and financial changes that are required to facilitate the roll-out of new technologies across rural areas.

英国目前的交通策略主要针对城市，并假设出行技术的进步只会简单地渗入农村地区。本文对这种观点提出了挑战，取而代之的是借鉴了与“智慧乡村”相一致的农村发展思想，该思想强调了基于地点的方法的必要性。采用调查和访谈方法来建立与老年人，年轻人和企业相关的农村需求的框架。该框架用于评估一系列出行创新，可以最有效地满足不同农村环境中的这些需求。在提出对未来农村人口流动的看法时，本文还指出了促进在农村地区推广新技术所需的关键基础设施以及机构和财务方面的变化。