Transit Districts

Texas public transit services are provided primarily by three types of entities: rural transit districts, urban transit districts and metropolitan transit authorities, or MTAs. In addition, 58 Texas public entities offer limited service specifically for seniors and those with disabilities. 

Rural Transit Districts

Texas’ 36 rural transit districts serve areas with fewer than 50,000 residents. In addition to fixed-route bus service, rural transit often includes demand-response transit, or dial-a-ride, as well. 

The largest rural transit districts by ridership are those of El Paso County, Fort Bend County and the city of South Padre Island.

Urban Transit Districts 

By federal definition, an urban transit district operates a transit system serving a “small urbanized area” of 50,000 to 199,999 people. Twenty-one Texas transit districts fall into this category. Another 10 remain classified as urban districts — and thus remain eligible for state funding — under specific statutory exceptions, even though they operate in areas with 200,000 or more residents. 

Texas’ largest urban transit district by ridership is Bryan-College Station, operated by the Brazos Transit District, with 6.7 million passenger trips and $10.8 million in operating expenses in fiscal 2019. The smallest is McKinney in Collin County, with 10,697 trips and $267,000 in expenses that year — but its ridership more than doubled between fiscal 2018 and 2019. 

Metropolitan Transit Authorities 

Texas’ eight MTAs, each serving areas with 200,000 or more residents, further differ from the other types in their ability to levy local sales taxes to fund their operations. Subtypes in this category include metropolitan rapid transit authorities (in Houston, San Antonio, Austin and Corpus Christi), regional transportation authorities (Dallas and Fort Worth), municipal transit departments (El Paso) and the Denton County Transportation Authority, a joint venture between Denton County and the cities of Denton and Lewisville. 

Given the number of people they serve, MTA budgets are much larger than those of the smaller transit agencies. Harris County’s MTA, Houston Metro, delivered more than 90 million passenger trips with $575 million in operating costs in fiscal 2019, followed by Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) at nearly 63 million trips and $987 million in expenses. 

This web of agencies and the relationships among them can be complex. Some rural transit districts are becoming urbanized, and some provide services in overlapping urban districts or in partnership with neighboring entities. In the Dallas-Fort Worth area, state law allows four urban districts to operate (and thus to receive state funding) within the DART service area. 

Funding Transit 

Texas’ transit programs are funded by a mix of federal, state and local sources. Fares paid by riders make up only a small portion of their total funding. All Texas transit agencies are eligible for federal funds, including grants from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and Federal Highway Administration.