In 2011, the Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI) released the policy brief, Rethinking Federal Investments in Rural Transportation: Rural Considerations Regarding Reauthorization of the Surface Transportation Act, which shows that America’s rural areas, small towns, and small cities require more flexibility in choosing among transportation investment options to maintain strong economies and quality of life.  The report explores the symbiotic relationships between transportation, economic development and quality of life in rural America, and describes how a variety of transportation investments — including transit, vanpools, walking and biking paths and roads and highways — are critical to the economic development and well-being of our nation’s smaller communities and rural areas.  The brief outlines a set of policy goals that should frame a “rural regional innovation” approach to transportation planning and resource allocation across rural America.  The full report is available for download here: http://www.rupri.org/Forms/RUPRI_Transportation_April2011.pdf.