Written by Jon Dege
As transportation leaders, we spend a great deal of our time looking toward the future. We discuss smart cities, automated vehicles, and interconnected transit webs. However, in our race to modernize, an undeniable geographic and demographic imbalance has emerged. While a massive portion of the American population lives in rural areas, the vast majority of transportation initiatives and technological innovations are being exclusively applied to dense urban cities.
If we truly want to revolutionize mobility, we have to look beyond the city limits. Why? Because transportation is fundamentally about connection, and that connection isn’t just to physical places, it is to people, ideas, education, care, stability, and the prevention of isolation. As our world rapidly evolves, our transportation systems must evolve alongside it to ensure no community is left behind.
As Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg perfectly stated, “Your zip code shouldn’t determine your level of access”. To make that ideal a reality, we must recognize the importance of rural innovation and start building mobility solutions where traditional transit simply doesn’t work.
The Structural Vulnerability of Rural Mobility To understand the necessity of rural innovation, we first have to understand the unique challenges these communities face. Traditional transit models are designed to cover huge distances efficiently, but they often struggle to meet the flexible, on-demand needs of rural residents.
In rural America, geographic isolation is compounded by aging populations and the reality of living in transit and food deserts. The stakes are incredibly high. For instance, the disability rate in these areas sits at 15.1%, which is significantly higher than the national average. Furthermore, a staggering 63% of rural riders report that they would lose their jobs without access to transit.
When we look at these numbers, it becomes clear that in rural spaces, a lack of transportation isn’t just a minor inconvenience; it is a deep, structural vulnerability.
The “Whole Town” Living Experiment When we deploy advanced technologies like Automated Vehicles (AVs) and microtransit in a major city, the focus is almost always on solving the “first and last mile” problem. The technology acts as a small puzzle piece fitting into a much larger, pre-existing transportation network with multiple forms of connection.
But when you bring these exact same innovations to a rural community, the paradigm completely shifts: you get to cover the whole town.
Deploying in a small town allows us to conduct a much more complete “living experiment”. We aren’t just connecting a rider to a train station; we are directly connecting them to the schools, the hospitals, the jobs, the living facilities, and the arts and culture of their community. Furthermore, despite conventional assumptions, we are finding that rural folks are incredibly tech-savvy and ready to embrace these advancements.
goMARTI: The Shining Star of Rural Innovation If you want to see what this looks like in practice, look no further than the goMARTI project in northern Minnesota. goMARTI is a free, on-demand microtransit service operating across a 20-square-mile service area. It stands as a shining star of how we can test and refine cutting-edge transportation technology in a rural setting.
Through goMARTI, we are deploying Level 4 Automated Vehicles and exploring fully electric vehicles, like the Volkswagen ID.Buzz, to test real-world battery range in severe winter conditions. But we are doing so with a relentless, uncompromising focus on accessibility. Five out of our nine vehicles are equipped with wheelchair ramps, and our stops are specifically designed with mobility needs in mind, featuring inclusive tech like ramps, motorized assisted wheelchair securement, and a Turny Seat!
We also partnered with May Mobility to deploy the Sienna Maas platform, a highly accessible minivan AV capable of Level 4 Autonomy. This incredibly innovative platform provides a road-legal vehicle that operates autonomously in favorable conditions, but can instantly be driven manually when the extreme northern Minnesota winter hits. This allows us to test the technology right up to its threshold without ever experiencing a drop in service quality for our riders.
When Technology Meets Psychology In the transportation sector, people expect me to talk primarily about technology. But I’ve learned that when you innovate in rural spaces, you really need to be talking about psychology. Technology alone is never the complete solution. True social innovation happens when technology is chosen, shaped, and developed by the people in the community to address their specific, everyday challenges.
For goMARTI, that means ensuring our cutting-edge tech is always backed up by people. While we offer app-based ride booking, we also maintain a dedicated call center for those who prefer or need it. Even our Level 4 AVs feature an onboard human operator to assist wheelchair users, accommodate service animals, and help riders get comfortable with the new technology.
By maintaining constant feedback loops and deep community engagement, we learn exactly how humans actually use the service. The real-world impact of this human-centered approach is profound. We hear from single working mothers who rely on goMARTI to affordably get to work and keep their jobs when their personal vehicles break down. We hear from individuals with traumatic brain injuries who had become reclusive due to other unpredictable options, but who are now able to independently attend desperately needed medical and social appointments.
When technology solves real problems for everyday people, that is when a community truly thrives.
A More Connected Future The future of transportation must be aspirational. It must provide options that are as diverse as the people who need them. We have the tools to solve rural mobility challenges right now. As we ask ourselves about expanding accessibility, the only remaining question is: If not now, when?
Transportation leaders have the power to bridge the gap between urban centers and rural communities. By investing in rural innovation, we don’t just test vehicles; we restore independence, stimulate local economies, and rebuild the social fabric of isolated regions.
As the late Paul Wellstone famously said, “We all do better when we all do better”. It is time we ensure that the next great mobility revolution reaches every corner of our country, connecting us all.
