ABSTRACT

This chapter explores the results of fieldwork activities targeting elderly and unemployed people living in Guarda, Portugal. Most of these citizens use a car, even if the former recognise that they are not fit enough to drive and the latter bear high costs. However, both groups perceive these efforts as fulfilling a basic need of living in such a rural and mountainous region where local authorities prefer to focus on urban citizens. Toll costs are regarded as a major barrier for unemployed people to get to work in territories where job opportunities are scarce, whereas elderly citizens, particularly those living in isolated places, are “forced” to use the bus and struggle with operational PT inadequacies.