How many people die on those roads who would live if they didn’t have to commute? How many pounds of tire end up in the sound killing salmon and orcas? How many pedestrians are those commuters going to kill? How many cyclists? How many kids get asthma from the exhaust? How much could we delay the most catastrophic impacts of climate change if we didn’t try to force people artificially in to the office?
If you want tax dollars you don’t need to force people in to cars. You need to make your city more accessible by bikes and mass transit. Those numbers are never coming back, and they absolutely shouldn’t. Adapt or die.