Living outside a conurbation doesn't mean you don't still need access to the amenities there. You still need groceries, to get kids to school, to visit the doctor, or even maybe visit friends, either in the city, or somewhere else outside it.

Roads are going to be part of the transport mix for the forseeable future, both within towns and cities, but also linking them. We need them for transporting goods and people long distances where public transport diesn't have a reasonable route, and we need them for the "last mile", from a transport hub, to where we actually need to be. The more people who use public transport the better for everyone, including those who can't use it for a particular journey. For that to happen though, there needs to be frequent local service, linking to the wider scale network, and it needs to go where people actually want.

An hourly bus service to go the few miles to the nearest villiage to buy some eggs or milk isn't really practical as the whole process of getting there and back will take far longer than just driving.

So yes, living outside town is more awkward than living in one, but you'd have to actually imprison me to get me to do that again, it almost destroyed my mental health last time.