Because 60 years of planning policy have favoured roads over rail and urban sprawl over density: France has 1.1 million kilometres of roads and 27,000 km of railway lines, a 40 to 1 ratio. Outside Île-de-France, 85% of commuting journeys are therefore by car for lack of alternatives. An employee travelling 30 km to an industrial area on the outskirts of a medium-sized town often has no bus, train or safe cycle path. Dependency thus comes more from infrastructure than individual behaviour.
Read the source article: Rural employer mobility plans: what can you do?