Quick Facts
Our goal goal is to enhance regional collaboration and cost-sharing, improve transportation and transit systems, and better address the needs of the region’s workforce, employers, residents and visitors.
- The Eagle Valley Transportation Authority (EVTA) was approved in November 2022 by voters in unincorporated Eagle County, the towns of Avon, Eagle, Minturn, Red Cliff and Vail, and Beaver Creek Metro District.
- Creation of the EVTA also authorized a half-penny sales tax specifically to fund operations of future services.
- Voters in the town of Gypsum did not approve the EVTA, so the new tax will not be collected in that jurisdiction. Gypsum may consider membership in the EVTA at a later time.
Services
EVTA will support regional transit services, primarily services that connect one or more of the member jurisdictions.
- ECO Transit, as the county’s current regional transportation provider, will form the backbone of the EVTA service. For the immediate future, current ECO Transit services and routes will be maintained using existing funding from a previous voter-approved half-penny sales tax that is collected County-wide.
- ECO Transit services will not be impacted to communities—including Gypsum, Leadville and Lake County—that are not currently EVTA member jurisdictions.
- EVTA and ECO Transit have begun the process of transferring existing ECO Transit operations, equipment and funding into the new authority. This process is scheduled to be complete in 2024
- New funding generated by the EVTA’s sales tax will be earmarked for the enhancements highlighted in the proposal approved by voters. This will include:
- Fare-free transit service to reduce traffic congestion and parking demands from Edwards to Vail, including Avon, Beaver Creek, Minturn and Eagle-Vail.
- New limited-stop express service at peak workforce commute hours.
- Year-round, lower cost flights at Eagle County Airport to help provide more options for local residents and to support the valley’s economy.
- Longer term enhancements for the EVTA will include:
- Zero-emissions conversion of ECO Transit’s Highway 6 bus service to help meet the region’s shared climate goals.
- Improved transit facilities, including affordable workforce housing for transit employees.
- Regionwide, long-term planning to address transportation needs 20 to 30 years in the future.
- Local services such as local bus services in Avon, Beaver Creek and Vail will continue to be operated by those communities and will not immediately become part of the EVTA.
- Local transit providers will benefit from membership in the EVTA by sharing technical expertise, project management and maintenance resources; coordinating technology and equipment purchases; accessing state and federal grant funding; and leveraging regional route realignments to reduce redundancy and free up local funding for other purposes.
Governance & Board Information
Each EVTA community appoints a member and alternate to the board. EVTA board members must be elected officials to serve on the board.
- The Board meets on the second Wednesday of each month at 12pm in Avon Town Council Chambers, and the meetings are open to the public.
- EVTA follows all of Colorado’s open-meetings and open-records laws, providing accountability and transparency to the public.
- Eagle County represents unincorporated communities such as Edwards, Eagle-Vail, Cordillera and Lake Creek Village on the EVTA board.
- Meeting dates, agendas, minutes and other public materials are available online.
Q: Why does the EVTA collect taxes?
Fares and passes represent a small — but important — portion of the budgets of transit systems. Tax revenue is essential to fund the majority of operations within a transit system to ensure consistent service levels. Currently, ECO Transit uses a voter-approved sales tax for its operations. The current ECO Transit sales tax funds existing service levels. Additional revenue from the EVTA’s half-penny sales tax will be used to increase frequency and capacity on ECO Transit’s routes, provide new services, and meet the facility, personnel, and equipment needs related to any expansion of services.
Q: What will happen to ECO Transit?
ECO Transit’s operations, services and funding will begin to transition to the EVTA over the coming year. ECO Transit is the core service platform for EVTA. Current ECO Transit services and routes will be maintained using the existing transit funding. Additional funding generated by the EVTA will allow ECO Transit’s services—such as express routes across the valley and more capacity along existing routes—to expand.
Q: What is ECO Transit’s current funding and will it continue?
In 1995, Eagle County voters approved a half-penny sales tax to fund transit and trails in the county. The tax funds both ECO Transit in the Eagle Valley and RFTA in the Roaring Fork Valley. It’s estimated that about 50 percent of this tax is paid by tourists and visitors to Eagle County. For ECO Transit, fares and passes only account for about 20 percent of its operational budget; the remaining operational funds are provided by the voter-approved tax, as well as grants and some state funding. This tax will not change or be replaced—since a portion goes to RFTA and ECO trails. The portion that supports ECO Transit operations will be transferred by the county to the EVTA to maintain that current service levels.
Q: Can other communities join the EVTA?
The EVTA’s goal is to improve service and transit options across the entire Eagle Valley and to better connect with neighboring jurisdictions where members of the county’s workforce live. The board will establish policies and a process for communities to join EVTA in the future. Communities that join will have to be accepted by the EVTA board, receive approval from their voters and receive voter approval for the sales tax to provide funding for EVTA services. Once a jurisdiction has joined EVTA, it will receive a seat on the governing board.
Q: Will the EVTA be able to increase fares?
The EVTA’s goal is to provide exceptional service at a price our community’s workforce, residents and businesses can afford. One of the primary service goals is to establish a fare-free zone along the current Highway 6 route to help get more people out their cars and using transit. The EVTA’s future fare policies will be determined by the governing board.
Q: Will the EVTA take over buses in Avon, Beaver Creek and Vail?
The purpose of the EVTA is to support regional transit services, such as services that connect one or more local communities. It is not intended to replace or provide funding for local, in-town transit systems. The towns of Avon and Vail, as well as Beaver Creek, will continue to operate their local transit services. The EVTA will work with these transit systems to better coordinate schedules, maintenance and other operations—and conduct cost-sharing and other economies of scale to best utilize financial resources.
The Eagle Valley Transportation Authority tax is being administered by the Colorado Department of Revenue in the same manner as the State tax. The EVTA tax rate and exemptions can be looked up at https://tax.colorado.gov/sales-tax-rate-changes.
The EVTA sales tax rate is 0.50% and is separate from Eagle County sales tax. Please do not submit as part of the Eagle County sales tax. Visit Colorado Sales Tax Filing Information for forms and other information about submitting this tax to the state.
The sales tax needs to be collected by businesses in areas where the EVTA was approved by voters.
These include:
- Unincorporated Eagle County, except the Roaring Fork Valley portion of the county
- Town of Avon
- Town of Eagle
- Town of Minturn
- Town of Red Cliff
- Town of Vail
- Beaver Creek Metropolitan District
Businesses in the Town of Gypsum will not be required to collect the new EVTA sales tax.
The EVTA will follow all of the State of Colorado's exemptions. The list of exemptions can be found at https://tax.colorado.gov/DR1002, which is updated at the end of December and the end of June each year.