Abstract: Transportation accessibility is crucial for linking individuals in rural communities to essential services and opportunities like employment, healthcare, education, and grocery shopping. However, existing disparities in accessibility contribute to the emergence of "opportunity deserts," zones with limited access to essential services, hindering social and health outcomes. Through a comprehensive review, this study explores transportation accessibility barriers in rural settings, revealing disparities in accessing essential services. Focusing on the Southeastern US, the analysis evaluates obstacles in reaching employment, healthcare, education, among others. The study highlights critical gaps, including the need for integrating novel datasets and socio-economic measures to better understand transportation equity. Additionally, we highlight areas, such as latent demand modeling for non-existent transportation options and the affordability of emerging transit solutions like Transportation Network Companies (TNCs) and micro-transit. Evaluating how accessibility barriers affect diverse populations can improve research and promote equitable rural transportation systems.