Estimated Impacts of the 2010 Census on the Texas Transit Funding Formula: Summary Report on Findings (0-6199-P1)

Changes in the population and land area of urbanized areas in Texas will play a significant role in determining the allocation of public transportation funds to service providers in Texas after Census 2010. The purpose of this report was to document the impact of the projections for the 2010 Census on federal and state funding for rural transit districts and the impact on state funding for eligible urban transit districts. The report documents the change in population and land area by transit district for existing rural and urban transit districts; identifies how new urbanized areas will affect current rural transit districts; and identifies the development of three population scenarios to reflect the possible impacts of new urbanized areas. It also applies each of the population scenarios to the current Texas transit funding formula to identify the impacts on funding by transit provider. Findings include a population increase in both urban and rural transit districts. Urbanized areas that may reach status as a large urbanized area with a population of 200,000 or more are Laredo, Brownsville, Killeen, and Amarillo. New small urbanized areas may be Cleburne, Conroe, Georgetown, New Braunfels, and San Marcos.