Sizing and serving Texas urban gaps.

716272479Technical report; Sept. 2009\uc2\ubfAug. 2010.PDFTech ReportFHWA/TX-11/0-6473-1Project 0-6473Urban transitFinancingTexasTexas Transportation InstituteArndt, JeffreyEdrington, SuzieSandidge, MattValencia, LilaJordan, JeffreyTexas Transportation InstituteTexas. Dept. of Transportation. Research and Technology Implementation OfficeUniversity of Texas at San AntonioNTL-PLANNING AND POLICY-Transit Planning and PolicyNTL-PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION-Transit Planning and PolicyNTL-PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION-Transit Economics and FinancesNTL-ECONOMICS AND FINANCE-FundingNTL-ECONOMICS AND FINANCE-Transit Economics and FinanceUS Transportation CollectionFederal and state funding is largely distributed based upon federally defined geographic areas\ue2\u20ac\u201durbanizedareas or rural areas (non-urbanized areas). For urban transit districts, the funding is based uponcharacteristics of the entire urbanized area. However, the service area boundary for transit providers inurbanized areas often does not match the urbanized area boundary, leaving a portion of the urbanized areawithout a designated transit provider. The unserved area is referred to as an urban gap. This researchestimates the magnitude and characteristics of urban gaps in all urbanized areas in Texas based upon both the2000 Census and a projection of the 2010 Census. The research then presents case studies on a variety ofapproaches that are being used in Texas to fund and operate transit service to urban gap populations