Plans for an improvement in public transport networks in the countryside have developed considerably in France during the last few years. The article presented here gives an account of observations made during a survey in the Pays d'Othe (Aube) in oider to analyse the demand for public transport in an area representative of the average French rural zone. It consists of two parts which correspond to : 1. the conclusions of a poll based on a representative sampling intended to gather data on the households possessing cars, the type and frequency of their journeys, means of transport used and opinions on public transport. 2. The information gleaned from the analysis of the contents of some forty interviews. The article shows the importance of the symbolic value of public transport and the types of representation common to the milieu observed, and brings out a particular structuralization of talk about transport, which is the main conclusion of this analysis.
