Cum reface linia de autobuz Pitești-Moșoaia stilurile de viață rurale: predictibilitate, constrângeri și oportunități în comuna Moșoaia, județul Argeș

Abstract

The introduction of the Pitești-Moșoaia bus line in 2024 has triggered significant social transformations in this peri-urban Romanian community. This article examines the impact of public transportation infrastructure on everyday mobility, access to services, family dynamics, gender roles, and overall quality of life. Drawing on a mixed-method approach – including a structured survey, participant observation, and informal interviews – the research adopts a holistic, community-centred perspective inspired by Dimitrie Gusti’s sociological school and its monographic tradition of studying rural life in context. The findings indicate that the bus service has reconfigured temporal routines, reduced dependency on private vehicles, and enabled increased social and economic participation. It fosters greater intergenerational connectivity and helps reduce social isolation, particularly among vulnerable groups such as the elderly, young people, and job seekers. While highlighting the positive effects, the study also examines structural constraints, including limited schedule frequency, infrastructure gaps, and discrepancies between rural rhythms and urban transport logics. Beyond its immediate context, the case of Moșoaia offers insights into the potential of public transport to serve as a vector for rural development, social cohesion, and environmental sustainability. The research situates mobility not merely as movement, but as a socially embedded resource that reshapes opportunities, identities, and local futures in post-communist rural Romania.