I am currently receiving schooling in a rural area and I have no means of personal transportation. The nearest traditional mass is less than an hour away by car but to get to it I'd have to spend at least $50 (probably more) paying someone off craigslist to take me each week. I can afford it but I am not sure if this is an "extraordinary effort" or not as I had been told one isn't bound to attend mass if it requires extraordinary effort but I am unaware of the relevant canons concerning this.

I don't know -- what are you going to spend your money on instead? You either value the Mass or you don't. You get to be with the King of Kings, worship Him as He desires to be worshiped, attend the Holy Sacrifice of Mass wherein the Son of God pleads for mercy and grace for you and all others present, and even receive the Source of Grace itself into your soul -- for a $50 expense.

See? You're looking at this the wrong way. This is how Vatican II took root among Catholics in the 1960s. They were already worldly minded, superficial, and didn't appreciate sacred goods. They were losing the Faith already, that's why it was taken away from them.

But back to the particulars of your situation --

Paying someone $50 OR MORE off Craigslist? What about family, friends, fellow Catholics? Gas isn't THAT expensive.
My commute is "less than an hour", about 35 minutes. 30 miles each way. In a large SUV that gets 12 MPG I'm probably spending around $15 to get to work and back.

Have you gone to this chapel at all yet? For all you know, you'll make friends with some of the parishioners there and one of THEM will offer to drive you for the price of gas ($20?) rather than $50 to pay for their gas AND TIME/TROUBLE. You don't want to be hiring someone, paying for their trouble. You want to pay for gas alone, and the person WANTS you to go to Mass because they're Catholic. That's what you need to find.

Be honest with yourself though. Rather than looking for permission/indult on a Trad forum to avoid Mass indefinitely because it's "extraordinary effort" why not embrace such heroism as the Saints would? What would ANY OF THE SAINTS do in your situation? Let's be honest here.

But *IF* I repeat *IF* it were super expensive or difficult to get to Mass, your next goal would be to NOT avoid Mass altogether. Skipping Mass on one week is not a huge deal (with good reason). But skipping Mass indefinitely, for a whole year or more? That's a whole different kettle of fish. Why not go EVERY OTHER WEEK in that situation? Or once a month?
But you must beware: it's difficult to form habits with a "period" of more than a week. I've seen it hundreds of times at my independent chapel here. When you're staying home "most" Sundays, it's SO easy to change that to "every Sunday". Whatever you do all those other Sundays simply bleeds into that one Mass Sunday, and you're done! No more Mass. It's a question of habit. If the general habit is "at home on Sunday, no Mass" then going to Mass will be the exception -- and that exception will not live long. Humans are creatures of habit.

No, I think the longest period for a habit is 7 days. Like "I start up all my mowers on Saturday to keep them running" Yes that's oddly specific, it's something I do. Every Friday this, every Monday that, every Saturday this and that. But beyond that, it's too rare to be a habit.

TL;DR - avoid Pharisaic Legalism, and meditate on the great value of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass AND the Sacraments you will receive there. Find a Catholic, friend, or family member who will drive you for GAS rather than hiring a complete stranger who will want money for gas AND time/trouble. Worst case go to Mass less often than weekly, but beware it's impossible to form a true habit with more than 7 days between "events".

I was in this situation years ago when I was temporarily living in a rural area. I managed to pay someone to drive me to Mass one time, and at the Mass I met a guy who happened to be living near me. 

Long story short, he not only drove me to and from Mass every week, but also ended up becoming a good friend who I still keep in touch with years later after having moved away. You never know what could happen. 

Call the chapel and tell of your predicament.  Maybe somebody is able to give you a ride for less than $50!  Or can you invest in one of those battery operated scooters, bikes, or a moped?  If nothing else works out, what about attending once a month and the rest of the time, on livestream if they have it, or listening to an audio recording?  What did you do during the C-sickness?  

I am currently receiving schooling in a rural area and I have no means of personal transportation. The nearest traditional mass is less than an hour away by car but to get to it I'd have to spend at least $50 (probably more) paying someone off craigslist to take me each week. I can afford it but I am not sure if this is an "extraordinary effort" or not as I had been told one isn't bound to attend mass if it requires extraordinary effort but I am unaware of the relevant canons concerning this.

I wouldn’t hesitate to pay any reasonable amount of money to go to mass especially since you are in school and possibly susceptible to the influence of bad companions. As others have said, maybe you’ll meet someone who lives close by and will take you.

Have you gone to this chapel at all yet? For all you know, you'll make friends with some of the parishioners there and one of THEM will offer to drive you for the price of gas ($20?) rather than $50 to pay for their gas AND TIME/TROUBLE.

Great point.  It's worth going up there at least once to see if someone else can help you out.  When I was a college student attending SSPX hotel Mass in Chicago in the late 1980s, when I finally got a car so that I could drive, I picked up an older lady every Sunday and took her to Mass.  I didn't even know her, but someone mentioned she needed a ride and so I figured I'd help her out.

I am currently receiving schooling in a rural area and I have no means of personal transportation. The nearest traditional mass is less than an hour away by car but to get to it I'd have to spend at least $50 (probably more) paying someone off craigslist to take me each week. I can afford it but I am not sure if this is an "extraordinary effort" or not as I had been told one isn't bound to attend mass if it requires extraordinary effort but I am unaware of the relevant canons concerning this.

If you really cannot afford the fee to get to the Latin Mass, then it would be considered a hardship to attend it. However, might it be worth trying to attend at least once a month?

I have a similar situation, though the details are different. Two years ago, we moved from the big city (with easy access to an SSPX chapel), and now we live far out in the countryside, and the nearest SSPX chapel is a three hour drive, one way. Explaining my situation to an SSPX priest, he told me that I should try to go to Mass at least once a month, and that has worked out pretty well.

How about calling the priest and asking him if he knows any parishoners in your area that can pick you up?

Also a good suggestion.  Who knows?  You could find out that someone who attends that chapel lives a block away from you.