The long-overdue tax increase - Salt Lake, Davis and Weber counties approved the hike in 2000 - should go on the ballot, earmarked specifically for commuter rail. (About 8 percent of the increase may go to roads.) Voters, who must be tired of crowded roads and highways, should approve it.

What makes the issue urgent now, besides stalled traffic that will undoubtedly worsen and a lack of alternatives to the automobile, is that I-15, the county's only major north-south artery, is scheduled to be widened in five years.

During the freeway's reconstruction, already-clogged traffic will be packed onto two fewer lanes in each direction. Motorists traveling to and from Salt Lake County to the north will find rush hour to be even more hellish than it is now.

But there is a way to lessen the misery, if the tax increase is approved.

The Utah Transit Authority, frustrated with Utah County dragging its feet on funding transit and the patchwork of cities that have joined the system, has worked with Union Pacific to offer the county an ultimatum: U.P. will provide Utah County commuters temporary rail service during the I-15 project, but only if they commit a quarter-cent for a permanent commuter rail line.

It's too good a deal to pass up, especially since it's the only deal on the table.

Utah County is late jumping on the transit bandwagon, to be sure. But, to its credit, it has, along with the Mountainland Association of Governments, finally announced a long-range transportation plan that includes not only more roads but commuter rail, light rail, regional bus rapid transit, local bus rapid transit and expanded local bus service.

It also has a transit committee made up of local and state officials that is looking at other service providers besides UTA, particularly for an expanded bus system.

Utah County's population will nearly double by 2030. There simply is no way to build enough roads to get people from one place to another, and, even if that were possible, the air created would be hardly breathable. Mass transit offers the alternative Utah County needs - now.