Rural Transit

In New Urbanist/TOD circles much of the discussion surrounds creating "car-free" urban centers as a solution to our social dependence on declining oil reserves. While I find these concepts fascinating and their renderings dazzling I cannot help but to wonder what would happen to rural areas if oil were to suddenly disappear as an affordable resource. What would Rural Transit look like? The old Interurbans had an extensive network throughout many country towns around the turn of the century. Would we see a revival?
Personally I envision a scenario where every small town include a local transportation plan (much like school bus schedules for children) where short range electric buses or vehicles serve as feeder routes for a larger state supported network (light rail could be run along utility lines and operated by the utilities (as coops) themselves) Stations along the Route could also be used as charging stations for individual cars and trucks whose battery life would limit them to sixty miles at a time. Local economic activity would naturally surround the transit/energy hubs which in most cases would be the same depot location that served the same purpose over a century ago before the Interstate killed Main Street and moved it to the highway exit/onramp.
Any other ideas or current examples?

I still think a podcar system of small self-propelled autonomous cars on some type of track would work well for this. Run the tracks down the roads, and when someone gets into one of these cars, they just select where they want to go on a touchscreen, the car would then run to a mainline where it could connect to other cars forming a train for a high speed run into the city.

Do these people thing energy grows on trees? Would it be just as likely to go back to horse drawn transportation where you grow feed & water your own horse. At least it would limit the need to make & deliver a product into rural & remote areas. Like food, create a market for farmers & others to grow & brew their own product. Use the waste product as fertilizer for more grains.

The electric car concept may work in a suburban environment where you only need a car for very short distances. Oil of some type is needed for extended range trips. Oil will still be essential as a lubricant & other uses.

It will depend on the state DOT that builds 4 lane highways linking every county seat to the Interstate. I don't know if/when the state may promote some public transit system that connects all these areas.
TN does have a rail fund that supports keeping shortlines open into rural areas. It is used as a tool for economic development. The rail access is then used to get VW & other companies to locate their factories in TN & bring their jobs here.

Well, judging from past trends in rural travel between 5 and 15 miles (from foot travel to horses to interurbans to cars and buses) faster service is the main driver. Until we see cheap light rail (or PRT) capable of 100+ mph service safely and efficiently, cars will be the de facto rural transit system. There is a market for fixed-route and dial-a-route bus service, and in energy-dense rural areas (think the Tennessee Valley) electrified trolleybus trunk routes could be warranted. It's very doubtful that an interurban will ever be built new again, due to the vast availability of good roads and the high price of property as compared to 100 years ago, but it might be the right choice between a few medium-sized town pairs where the right-of-way already exists.