People in the country usually pay a lot less rent/housing. Paying more for transportation is to be expected if you don't live in a city.
If they don't like it, they could try to move to a city and swap their high transportation cost for higher rent.
Yes, but not without developping the alternatives. For example, in France, the government decided to raise the taxes on gas and especially diesel — but at the same time, the small train lines are being shut down, so people living in the country aren't to happy.