Rural Mobility in Appalachia: Contemporary Public Transportation Planning and the Complicated Legacy of Regional Highway Networks

Hutchinson, Emily Allen

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/111665 Copy

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Title

Rural Mobility in Appalachia: Contemporary Public Transportation Planning and the Complicated Legacy of Regional Highway Networks

Author(s)

Hutchinson, Emily Allen

Issue Date

2021

Keyword(s)

• public transportation
• rural mobility

Abstract

This thesis examines the current characteristics of rural public transportation planning in Appalachia and the role that the Appalachian Development Highway System (ADHS) has played in shaping those characteristics. My findings provide new insights about the region-specific challenges that transportation practitioners in Appalachia face, community- and agency-based solutions to those challenges, and the influence of auto-oriented investments on the region’s capacity to plan for public transit. I draw primarily on historical and current evidence from the literature as well as qualitative data collected from a series of interviews with transportation practitioners in Appalachia. I conclude that the ADHS is among the many factors that have negatively impacted the region’s capacity to adequately maintain and enhance public transportation service, and that demand for increased service justifies a reevaluation of the paradigms that have historically guided rural planning.

Type of Resource

text

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/111665

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