The city of Buda is exploring possible funding avenues that would allow Capital Metro to provide service between the city and one of the transit service's stops at Southpark Meadows in Austin.

According to a presentation given by Capital Metro representatives at a May 22 Buda City Council meeting, service between Buda and Southpark Meadows would ultimately cost the city $66,299 a year. The city's minimum capital investment would also include a concrete pad at the bus stop and would cost $5,000.

Buda Director of Planning Chance Sparks said City Council will consider the issue at a future meeting.

"We're basically plugging in a budget number for at least discussion with council, and if it does happen, we would anticipate probably a January rollout," Sparks said.

The biggest challenge standing in the way of service is providing a funding mechanism, he said.

The city of Austin funds its participation in Capital Metro through a 1 percent sales tax. Cities such as Buda and Kyle are unable to provide funding through a new sales tax because those municipalities have already reached the state's 8.25 percent sales tax cap.

In order to provide service to areas such as Buda, Kyle, Georgetown and Round Rock, which have reached the sales tax cap, Capital Metro has had to explore alternative funding avenues, Sparks said.

If it provided service to Buda, Capital Metro would recover some of the expense from the fares paid for each trip, and the city would provide the remainder from its budget.

The proposed service would include eight daily trips and a $2.75 fare.

"Just getting to Southpark, you could transfer to the rapid bus, and that could get people to downtown if they're state workers. I think it goes up to the University of Texas campus, and it actually gets them all the way over to Tech Ridge," Sparks said. "It's a pretty good deal if you're someone like me who would rather just not drive anywhere."

As part of the process to update the city's Transportation Master Plan, residents were asked to rank transportation priorities, including expansion of existing roadways, construction of new roadways, addition of commuter bus service to Austin and more. Thirteen percent of residents said commuter service to Austin, like that provided by Capital Metro, should be the city's biggest priority.