The city, with 2,600 employees eligible for the perk, has a high, or a low, participation rate, depending on how you look at it.

It purchases 1,150 Utah Transit Authority Eco Passes each year. About 800 employees take the freebies - meaning almost 70 percent of the passes are used, an "extremely high rate" if all of those employees actually take buses or light-rail trains, said UTA spokesman Justin Jones.

But UTA figures show just 23 percent of city employees ride public transportation - still a good figure, he said. By comparison, 25 percent of University of Utah students and faculty use similar passes. And fewer Utah commuters in general - only 2 percent - use mass transit, according to census figures.

But the mayor - Rocky Anderson commutes to work in a natural gas-powered car - wants even more people to use public transportation.

He angered Salt Lake City Council members and residents and government officials outside the city earlier this month when he spoke out about how commuting by automobile increases the city's traffic, fouls its air and makes its residents sick.

Anderson mentioned Davis County residents, whose leaders seek to build the Legacy Highway, which the mayor opposes. To punish the mayor, some residents there are calling for a boycott of Salt Lake City businesses.

Anderson's own employees are mainly commuters. About 10 percent come from Davis County, according to data compiled by the city's Human Resource division. In total, 75 percent of city employees live outside the city - from as far away as Afton, Wyo., and Sanpete County to as close as South Salt Lake.

"If he can't sweep his own doorstep, why is trying to get us to try and clean our own doorstep?" wondered Davis County Commissioner Alan Hansen. He had urged Anderson to apologize for the mayor's State of the City comments, and noted in a letter that Salt Lake County has more registered vehicles - 683,700 - than Davis and Weber counties combined (342,468).

"It seems your air pollution problems are mostly within your own borders," Hansen wrote.

The commissioner hasn't heard from the mayor. But he and other commissioners have come up with their own public relations campaign: They are urging Davis County drivers to plaster their bumpers with the sticker "I [heart] Davis County." The stickers are available at the county courthouse in Farmington.

Anderson's spokeswoman, Deeda Seed, said the mayor wasn't out to "vilify" anyone, but to suggest that everyone - from Davis County residents to Salt Lake City dwellers to Sandy commuters - think about their use of automobiles.

"People are taking it the wrong way," she said, adding that Anderson's Davis County comments were "taken out of context."

"It's not something to be angry about. It's a call to action. All of us need to consider our habits," she said.

Salt Lake City started offering the UTA passes at a small price under former Mayor Deedee Corradini, according to Human Resource Director Brenda Hancock. The city started giving them away for free in 2002 to get more employees to use public transportation during the Winter Olympics.

The passes cost $92,750 a year. "It's a commitment we've made to try to clean up the air. If we're telling other employers to [urge their employees] to use public transportation, we ought to as well," Hancock said.

hmay@sltrib.com

---

Tribune reporter Lori Buttars contributed to this story.