EDITORIAL BUSES OR BUST.

The future of L.A. public transportation is in Gov. Davis' handsGOV. Gray Davis will never get a clearer choice than this.

Does he serve the public, or does the public serve him, paying taxes so he and his Democratic pals in the legislature can reward the people who get them elected without regard to the general good of the community?

This is the choice Davis faces when deciding on the fate of Senate Bill 1101, which would cripple public transit in Los Angeles.

A sop to the public-employee unions, SB 1101 would permanently impose the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's pricey and unwieldy work rules on a new Valley Transit Zone.

What the unions are fighting for isn't reasonable pay and benefits for an honest day's work, but work rules that make the cost of running an MTA bus $98.75 an hour - as much as 50 percent higher than other area transit agencies.

The interim Valley zone board has already suspended its future meetings until Davis renders his decision. The board's chairman, Zev Yaroslavsky, and fellow L.A. County supervisor Michael D. Antonovich have both sent Davis letters asking him to veto the bill.

A year ago, when presented with virtually identical legislation, Davis wisely concluded that local transportation questions are best dealt with locally, and vetoed the bill. But this time, Davis has deliberately tried to leverage the union's position in contract talks by saying he hasn't ruled out signing the law.

At the bargaining table, MTA officials face the same choice as Davis - will they buckle to the union's demands that allow an annual $70 million workers' compensation bill, pay bus drivers $70,000 a year on average and allow mechanics to be treated like brain surgeons?

Or will they have the backbone to fight for the transit-dependent - the working poor, students - to provide the best bus and train services possible at the lowest possible cost?

There never has been any question about a new Valley transit zone honoring existing contracts, but the unions and the Democrats want to effectively strip Valley officials of the right to negotiate future contracts that could lower costs and improve service.

For Davis, doing the right thing means biting the union hand that feeds him.

For the MTA, it means showing a commitment to the people it's supposed to serve.

The alternative is to let public transit languish and die. The public cut off use of Los Angeles County's 1 percent sales tax surcharge for subway construction, and the public will sooner or later abolish the tax entirely if their elected officials continue to show contempt for the public interest.

The choice is Davis' and the MTA's: the public interest or special interests. There's nothing gray about this issue.