Federal Transit Dollars Go Further in Smaller Cities, University of Houston Study Finds

Federal transit funding may do more to boost ridership in small and midsize U.S. transit systems than in the country's largest metropolitan areas, according to a new study co-authored by Kailai Wang, an assistant professor of industrial and systems engineering at the University of Houston. The findings, published in the journal Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, arrive as Congress works on the next federal surface transportation bill.

"In the largest metropolitan areas, an additional dollar generates roughly one-third as much new ridership as it does in a small or midsize city," Wang said. "The reasons are fairly intuitive; smaller transit systems often still have considerable room to grow."

The Federal Transit Administration distributes roughly $20 billion a year to help transit agencies expand fleets, maintain infrastructure and improve service, though only 5% of U.S. commuters relied on public transit as of 2019. The study found that federal money has the greatest impact on transit growth of any funding source, largely by fueling capital investment and fleet expansion, but its effect varies by place: a new route in a fast-growing Sun Belt city can give residents their first practical alternative to driving, while in cities such as New York and Chicago, additional funding tends to strengthen already-extensive networks rather than open new travel options.

To isolate the effect of transit funding from the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic, the study tracked 417 U.S. urbanized areas from 2010 to 2019. Wang said the findings do not suggest reducing support for large transit systems: "The New York region alone carries a very large share of the nation's transit trips, and maintaining those systems remains critically important."