State funds Pomona-to-Montclair light rail, first LA Metro project to San Bernardino County

Turned down three times, the fourth may be the charm for Pomona-to-Claremont and Montclair light-rail.

After years of being turned down, the LA Metro A Line extension, which will be the first light-rail line to cross into San Bernardino County, received state funding on Monday, July 8.

The California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA) released close to $500 million for the 3.2-mile extension from Pomona to Claremont and Montclair in the Inland Empire. The rest of the money for the $798 million project will be allocated by the end of this year, officials said.

When built, the A Line, the longest light-rail line in the world that runs between Long Beach, downtown Los Angeles, Pasadena, and soon along the eastern L.A. County foothill cities, will serve both San Bernardino County and Los Angeles County passengers, a first in the history of the agency. The line’s eastern terminus will be at  Montclair Transit Center.

The construction contract award is set for spring 2025. The five-year project should be completed by 2030, said Habib Balian, CEO of the Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority on Monday, July 8.

“It is a great day for the Authority,” Balian said. “The timing is perfect. It gives us everything we need to get the project all the way to Montclair.”

The roughly one-mile track from the Los Angeles/San Bernardino county line to Montclair would be paid for by the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority (SBCTA). Last week, the agency confirmed it has $80 million set aside for construction, Montclair City Manager Edward Starr said on Monday, July 8.

“This project recognizes the demand in San Bernardino County for people to have light-rail service,” said Starr. The adjacent Metrolink heavy rail trains cross the county lines in six Southern California counties but passenger fares are much more expensive and the waits are about one to two hours between trains, Starr said.

The A line, like most L.A. Metro light-rail lines, has waits that range from between 8 minutes to 15 minutes. The regular fare is $1.75, with reduced fares for seniors, disabled, low-income riders and free fares for K-14 students.

“This will be the first rail line to extend from San Bernardino County directly into Los Angeles County foothill cities, into Pasadena, all of Los Angeles and into Long Beach,” Starr said.

The Claremont and Montclair stations would add 8,000 daily boardings or about half of the line’s total adjusted ridership, reports estimated.

The extension of the electric-powered A Line, a synergy between light-rail and Metrolink at Montclair, Claremont and Pomona, would add about 2,000 Metrolink passengers a day, Starr said.

Commuters from the Inland Empire who drive the 210, 10 and 60 freeways westerly in the morning to jobs in Los Angeles County, and easterly back home, would have a less expensive and quicker mass transit option.

Extending the light-rail line into Montclair would take about 15,000 car trips off the roads each day and reduce 26.7 million vehicle miles travelled annually, eliminating 1.75 metric tons of carbon emissions that add to global climate change. The project would create 5,500 jobs and generate $860 million in economic output as well as $13 million in tax revenues, the Authority reported.

“Light rail is true transit. And this would make true transit available for San Bernardino County,” Starr said. “It goes to higher education schools in Claremont, Pasadena and Los Angeles. And it increases access for cultural opportunities in Los Angeles.”

The birth of the line began in 2003, when it was built from L.A.’s Union Station to Pasadena. Then an extension to Azusa was completed in 2016. The next extension currently nearing completion reaches Pomona and will be completed by early 2025.

The state legislature gave the construction authority the power to build it into San Bernardino County in 2011. But it ran out of money in 2019, and the state rejected project gap funding in 2021, 2022 and 2023 despite large surpluses in the state budget.

Ironically, the funding comes after the state’s new 2024 budget tackled a $68 billion deficit, that delayed by several years some funding for public transportation. This allocation — some set aside in 2023 — amounted to nearly $2 billion for the entire state, half of the original proposal.

Balian and others said the biggest hurdle was overcome when the LA Metro board last year voted to make the Montclair extension the No. 1 priority for state public transit funding.

“This is a momentous occasion. It is a historic moment allowing the counties of Los Angeles and San Bernardino to connect through light-rail transit,” said Claremont City Councilmember Ed Reese who is chairman of the Gold Line Construction Authority board.

Reece said having the first light-rail train connecting the two counties can address traffic created by households  moving from L.A. County to San Bernardino County in the last 10 years for less-expensive housing, but who still drive to work in L.A. County.

“This (train extension) will have a significant impact in reducing that congestion,” Reece said. “And also increasing quality of life. You get on the line, do your work, catch up with emails and talk to family members.”