Here is an excerpt of an editorial from the San Francisco Chronicle, which was published Tuesday.

SAN FRANCISCO'S Board of Supervisors recently voted to put a Municipal Railway charter amendment on the ballot that would clarify and strengthen the city's "transit first" policy. Then they got into their cars and drove home.

It probably should not surprise us that nine of the 11 supervisors routinely drive to City Hall. The allure of a reserved prime parking spot apparently is much stronger for these politicians than an unenforceable 1993 ballot measure that asked city employees to take public transit at least twice a week.

These elected officials spend their days hearing about the flaws of the Municipal Railway. No wonder they want to avoid it.

The big question is, what will it take for a majority of supervisors to change their commuting habits? Gas at $2 a gallon? Gridlock on the streets? Free Muni passes?

The least the auto-addicted supervisors and the chauffeur-driven mayor could do would be to slip a buck into a Muni fare box once in a while to see for themselves what everyone is griping about.

Pub Date: 8/30/99