Don't raise Muni fares

INSTEAD OF LOOKING for ways to make the wealthiest pay their fair share of the city's tax burden, Mayor Willie Brown announced last week that he's planning to raise Muni fares by 25¢. That may sound reasonable – fares haven't gone up in years – but it's a bad idea, and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors should reject it.

Muni riders are, generally speaking, less well-off than people who don't use the system, so any fare increase is in fact a regressive tax. It's almost as bad as a sales tax on food: for many people, Muni is an essential expense. Much of the city uses the system for work, school, child care, medical appointments, and other nondiscretionary travel. And anything that makes it more expensive to ride the bus will encourage some people to get in their cars instead – causing more traffic, pollution, and accidents.

And as we've seen over and over again, raising Muni fares is dumb economics: often, the additional revenue that comes in from the higher fares is more than offset by the lower ridership. Raising fares can actually cost the city money.

The budget is tight, but this is the wrong answer. The supervisors should reject any Muni fare hike.