O’Toole: Eagle County transit tax will do more harm than good. (website)

Eagle County wants to create a new regional transit district and double the current transit sales tax to pay for it. There are no good reasons for voters to support this measure and several reasons for them to vote “no.”

The pandemic has dramatically changed how Coloradans live and work. The share of Colorado employees working at home has tripled. Jobs and residences have moved to less concentrated areas. People say they will continue to social distance even after the pandemic is over.

All of these things have had a disproportionate effect on transit. While the increase in telecommuting reduced the number of people driving to work by 15 percent, it reduced the number taking transit by 59 percent.