The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) has undertaken new research, working with the Campaign for Better Transport, into how well connected England's rural communities are. It shows that outside of England’s major cities, communities are being left in ever-expanding ‘transport deserts’ with inadequate bus and train connections. 

The research findings show that a majority of small towns across South West and North East England are showing signs of becoming isolated, or transport 'deserts'. A scoring system based on three criteria determines how well a place is connected and whether it is then deemed a transport 'desert' or 'oasis'. The criteria are related to bus services, rail services and other transport modes (coaches, community transport, taxi/ride sharing and light rail, ferry). 

Some of the places scoring highest in their connectivity are in the South West in Devon and Cornwall, and common for both of these places are their extensive rail networks and the fact that local authorities have actually increased their spending on buses since 2010, which is against the national trend. Since 2008/09 bus patronage in England outside London is down almost 12%. In the same period support from central and local government for bus services outside of London is down from £1.732bn to £1.274bn or 25% (source).

As a way to rectify the situation CPRE calls for the government to invest more money in to rural transport, set ambitious target for the proportion of people living within walking distance of a bus stop and reopen rural railways across the country.