TEF awards deeply discounted transit fares to nonprofits serving clients in the CapMetro service territory that are transit-dependent and at 150% of the federal poverty level. The goal of the program is to promote self-sufficiency by providing transportation for employment, healthcare, education, and social services.
Application Process
TEF has an annual application process for one or both of the following:
- Deeply discounted CapMetro transit passes (80% discount from the full fare)
- No-cost passes are also available on a limited basis for organizations that demonstrate a critical need.
Annual Timeline
- January: Application released and optional information session
- February: Applications due
- March: Decisions announced
- April: Awards distributed
The 2026 application is closed. TEF anticipates the next call for applications in January 2027.
Reporting
Distribution Tracking
Frequently Asked Questions
Please email Madeleine Jordan-Lord at madeleine@woollardnicholstorres.com with any questions you may have.
Organizations that receive transit passes through the Transit Empowerment Fund are required to submit quarterly reports on the bus passes they distribute to clients.
The quarterly reporting form is always available on our website. A reminder of the reporting deadline as well as a link to that reporting tool is sent out to recipient organizations.
Reports submitted after the deadline are considered late. It is very important that you report your organization’s bus pass distribution accurately and in a timely manner. Late reporting can impact your ability to qualify for an abbreviated application (which is much easier for you to fill out and for us to process) as well your organization’s eligibility for free passes in the future.
If you know in advance that you won’t be able to report on time, please let us know. We try to be reasonable about the deadlines and will make exceptions if warranted. It is better to report late than skip reporting as this is where errors start to creep up.
If your organization does not distribute any passes for a given quarter, you will still need to submit a report. Simply indicate on the form that no passes were distributed that month.
Please save your quarterly report data for your records.
No. The Transit Pass Program Distribution Log will prompt you to record a unique identifier for each individual client you distribute passes to. The goal is to track how many new and repeat clients are receiving passes each month. Your organization may choose to use any system you would like as long as identifiers are unique to each client. Some examples of client identifiers include client birthdays, MetroAccess ID numbers, the last four digits of social security number, etc.
In order to use a reduced fare pass on a CapMetro bus, an individual must show the bus driver a CapMetro Reduced Fare ID card. As a result, TEF wants to make sure that these passes are being distributed only to individuals who actually have a CapMetro Reduced Fare ID card and can therefore use them. Riders with disabilities, seniors over 65, Medicare card holders, and active duty military personnel are eligible for a reduced fare ID card through CapMetro. For more information, please visit CapMetro’s page on their Reduced Fare ID.
MetroAccess is a demand-response, shared-ride service for people whose disabilities prevent them from riding CapMetro’s other transit services. All recipients of MetroAccess passes must meet Capital Metro’s MetroAccess eligibility criteria and complete their process. Learn more about the MetroAccess program here.
The TEF Board does not impose a maximum number. That decision is left up to your organization.
No, the TEF Board cannot facilitate pass exchanges. Unfortunately, the TEF Board cannot purchase additional passes at a deeply discounted rate from CapMetro during the course of the year outside of the annual transit pass program.
The TEF Board expects recipient organizations to distribute their awarded passes within 12 months of receipt. If for some reason your organization is unable to do so, please continue to distribute your awarded passes and continue to submit monthly reports until your organization uses up your supply of TEF passes. You may need to adjust the number and/or type of passes requested in your application to participate in the program the following year in light of your surplus passes.
Stolen passes should be reported to the TEF Board within 24 hours. Please email madeleine@woollardnicholstorres.com with your organization’s name, a description of the circumstances, the number and type of passes stolen, and a copy of the police report, and how security procedures will be changed to prevent additional thefts in the future. Please note that stolen passes WILL NOT be replaced by the TEF Board.
Please email madeleine@woollardnicholstorres.com if passes are lost or damaged to the point of being unsuable. Please include a description of the circumstances that led to pass damage or loss, the number and type of impacted passes, and how storage/security procedures will be changed to prevent these issues in the future.
TEF reserves the right to audit your organization’s tracking and reporting, so please make sure that both are as accurate as possible. Please keep records on file for three years.