Investing the Impact of Expansion of the Rural-Urban Public Transport System on the Economic and Social Development in Rural Areas in the Eastern Region of Bandpey in Babol County

Purpose: In rural areas of developing countries, lack of facilities and geographical isolation can be considered as the major causes of poverty leading to limited opportunities in achieving sustainable economic and social improvement. Public transport system has a crucial role in the prevention of social and economic exclusion and marginalization of rural and remote areas. Access to public transport can have various effects on economic and social development of these areas. In this article we studied the role of the communication network and public transport system in economic and social development of the rural areas. Therefore it is intended to answer the following questions: - What are the different views of mountain village people and plain village people about rural road network and rural – urban public transport system? - Do the factors like improvement of network construction and expansion of rural roads and public transport systems lead to economic boom in the study area? - Do the factors like network construction, improvement of rural roads and expansion of public transport systems lead to improvement of social conditions in the study area? Methodology: The research was done on the base of descriptive and exploratory method. The population of this research is the forest-mountain and plain villagers chosen in the eastern region of Bandpey in Babol County. Due to the purpose of the research,  descriptive-analytical method was chosen. The data were collected by questionnaires. Validity of the questionnaires were confirmed by applying Cronbach formula with 78%. Residents of plain-forest and mountain-forest villages from Sajadroad and Fyrozjah rural districts are study population. The relative sampling method was used in the present study and for analysing the data, descriptive methods by SPSS software were applied. Finding: It is shown that there are significant differences between the forest-mountain and plain villages in all fields of services like safety, infrastructure, quality of the communication network, and transport system and these factors influence the economic and social development except the quality of the asphalt. In the villages of the plains, two factors of safety road network and public transport system have influential role in the economic and social development. In the forest-foothill villages, social development is influenced by quality improvement of the infrastructure elements and economic development is affected by expanding safety road network and public transport system. Research Limitation:  Limited numbers of forest-mountain villages are selected as sample. Practical Implications: In all societies, rural transport system has been considered as a prerequisite for progress and one of the important aspects of rural development. Furthermore, expanding road network and public transport are regarded as prerequisites and foundations of development in communities which have potential productivity. The aforesaid factors provide unbreakable bond between remote areas like rural ones with socio-economic development and ultimately prevent isolationism in closed economy of rural areas by strengthen the sense of belonging to a larger community. Original/Value: Transportation is a prerequisite for the development of rural areas.