EDITORIAL : ZEV'S SOLID LEADERSHIP; YAROSLAVSKY IS FORCING MTA TO GET REAL.

LOS Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky is doing the right thing by throwing a monkey wrench in the MTA's unstoppable money train.

Yaroslavsky launched an initiative drive Monday to stop the MTA from using sales taxes to build any new subways beyond one now being finished in North Hollywood.

It's the right move because it will force MTA officials and board members to take a stand and come up with a honest recovery plan - which, we believe, means rail will be stopped until the community can afford it someday in the future.

Make no mistake, the initiative is far from an answer to the MTA's woes.

The real answer is a realistic and affordable plan to provide efficient and competent mass transit to all of Los Angeles.

The real answer is to stop the political skulduggery that has resulted in the costliest public works project in U.S. history.

But an honest answer doesn't appear forthcoming from the MTA, prompting Yaroslavsky's open rebellion.

For now, it is the only appropriate response to MTA board members who continue to finagle ways to keep the rail projects alive.

If passed in November, the measure would forbid the MTA from using the more than $800 million in annual sales tax revenues that it receives from Proposition A, which passed in 1980, and Proposition C, which passed in 1990, to build more subway lines beyond the North Hollywood extension set to open in about two years.

The only hitch with Yaroslavsky's measure is that it doesn't go far enough. His initiative still would allow the money to be spent on light rail construction, such as the halted Blue Line extension to Pasadena. Light rail to Pasadena stands in the way of high-speed busways and overall bus system improvements that can serve the whole county.

When we cry ``Stop rail now,'' we mean all rail. Stop the subway in its tracks and put light rail on the back burner until the MTA can build a transit system that works and one the public can afford.

The Pasadena Blue Line needs to be reappraised in terms of cost per passenger and whether it will serve a significant number of commuters.

Mass transit in L.A. is a joke, and the system is broke. Our elected representatives squandered billions, leaving most commuters with few choices.

The answer now is that money must go toward providing the greatest good for greatest number of riders.

Pasadena doesn't take precedence over the need for buses throughout Los Angeles.

At least Yaroslavsky is providing leadership. His measure will force other public officials to either stand up and offer a realistic plan for building a mass transit system in the next half century or letting it go once and for all.