San Marcos and Texas State are developing a new five-year plan to coordinate their transit systems and improve public transportation throughout the city.
Peter Binion, assistant director of Public Works, gave a presentation about the transit partnership between the city and Texas State University at the City Council work session on Oct. 7.
He said the city service, operated through CARTS, has about 120 stops and 100,000 annual riders, while the Bobcat Shuttle has 32 stops and about 2.5 million annual riders. The city operates 11 vehicles and provides around 21,000 hours of service a year with an approximately $1.4 million investment. Texas State has 49 vehicles and provides around 64,000 service hours with a $7.7 million investment from student fees.
Texas State allows the general public to ride its buses for free, and the city’s transit services have been free since 2020.
Binion said the city and Texas State are beginning a five-year Transit Development Plan coordinated by TxDOT. The plan will examine how to better coordinate the two systems and make recommendations for routes, stops, service frequency, microtransit, technology, bus-stop amenities and future capital improvements.
Currently, the Bobcat Shuttle service is focused on moving students from high-density student housing to the university, while the city service moves a different “cross-section of riders to a broad different cross-section of destinations,” according to Binion.
“Some of the benefits of that coordinated system, or that transit partnership, include it is inclusive of all residents. It removes barriers to transit service for everyone in the community,” Binion said. “We’re looking to coordinate our marketing and public outreach. It does provide access to more federal transit funding to enhance the system, and it provides a bridge of good faith between the city and Texas state.”
Binion said the city has had a bus stop at the university since 2017, which has generated significant federal transit funds. There are three types of federal funding that the city and Texas State would split, with the city receiving approximately $7.3 million and Texas State receiving $9.3 million from currently identified federal funds.
Public outreach is scheduled to begin in fall 2026 with surveys, stakeholder meetings and community open houses. Results are expected to come before the council around January, followed by more public input before development of the final plan for adoption.