The Better Bus

CapMetro approves plan to transport Austin to better service in 2035

CapMetro will add six routes over the next 10 years, and improve more.

CapMetro, Austin's transit service, has approved a new plan for expanding its network over the next 10 years. The plan will go into effect in 2026, and it is updated "about every five years," according to CapMetro.

KVUE reports that the vote was unanimous. The plan was developed with the input of more than 10,000 people in Central Texas, including 8,500 survey-takers.

The executive summary of the CapMetro Transit Plan 2035 explains that Austinites were riding fixed bus routes increasingly before the pandemic — Austin was one of seven cities in the country seeing ridership rise. During the pandemic, ridership dropped less dramatically, and is recovering faster, too. The report found unmet demand mostly on the north side of the metro — in Pflugerville, Round Rock, and Cedar Park.

In all, at the end of the 10 year period, the plan counts 41 "realigned" routes, 19 routes with improvements in their frequency and span, and six brand-new routes. After 10 years, there will be more improvements, including to the Green and Red Line Commuter Rail services, and expansion of rapid service.

The "preferred network" — the one recommended by the plan — will add increased connection to the airport, more east-west connections, integration with the Austin Light Rail, and more.

Bus riders can view their routes over the next five years on an interactive map, including information about arrival times and how often each bus is scheduled to come. It also provides population data within a quarter-mile of each line's stops: the number of people who live there, the percentage living in poverty, and the percentage who are non-white or of Hispanic/Latino origin. Users can also view SNAP grocers and average daily ridership in April of 2024.

A second interactive map shows the plan after the next five years.

The plan also puts forth some worries about funding, including that operational costs are rising, sales tax revenue is slowing, and fares cannot cover all expenses. It describes the outlook until 2035 as "financially constrained." More decisions will have to be made as conditions change to implement the plan over the years.

capmetro bus transportation train

income analysis

This is the family income needed for one parent to stay home in Texas

Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

With costs to raise a child soaring over $20,000 a year in Texas, some households might decide to have one parent work while the other stays at home to raise their child.

The cost of raising a child has ballooned in major cities like Austin, forcing many families to weight the choice between paying for child care or having one parent stay home full-time.

A recent analysis from SmartAsset determined the minimum income one parent needs to earn to support their partner staying at home to raise one child in all 50 states. In Texas — not just Austin — that amount is just under $75,000.

The study used the MIT Living Wage Calculator to compare the annual living wages needed for a household with two working adults and one child, and a household with one working adult, a stay-at-home parent, and one child. The study also calculated how much it would cost to raise a child with two working parents based on factors such as "food, housing, childcare, healthcare, transportation, incremental income taxes and other necessities."

A Texas household with one working parent would need to earn $74,734 a year to support a stay-at-home partner and a child, the report found. If two parents worked in the household, necessitating some additional costs like childcare and transportation, it would require an additional $10,504 in annual income to raise their child.

SmartAsset said the cost to raise a child in Texas in a two-working-parent household adds up to $23,587. Raising a child in Central Texas, however, is slightly more expensive. A separate SmartAsset study from June 2025 determined it costs $24,118 to raise a child in the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metro.

In the report's ranking of states with the highest minimum income needed to support a family with one working adult, a stay-at-home parent, and one child, Texas ranked 32nd on the list.

In other states like Massachusetts, where raising a child can cost more than $40,000 a year, the report acknowledges ways families are working to reduce any financial burdens.

"This often includes considerations around who’s going to work in the household, and whether young children will require paid daycare services while parents are occupied," the report said. "With tradeoffs abound, many parents might seek to understand the minimum income needed to keep the family afloat while allowing the other parent to stay home to raise a young child."

The top 10 states with the lowest minimum income threshold to support a three-person family on one income are:

West Virginia – $68,099
Arkansas – $68,141
Mississippi – $70,242
Kentucky – $70,408
North Dakota – $70,949
Oklahoma – $71,718
Ohio – $72,114
South Dakota – $72,218
Alabama – $72,238
Nebraska – $72,966

texas income smartasset family