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County could annually expect to gain $1.4 million for every $1 million they invest in construction of the Montclair A Line extension, and $3.5 million for every $1 million they invest in operation of the line. These benefits are in addition to the jobs and labor income associated with activities both during and after construction of the A Line extension to the Montclair Transit Center. The independent market study estimates do not include the positive economic impacts for Montclair stemming from planned and anticipated transit-oriented developments in and around the future Montclair A Line station. Montclair anticipates that a separate economic analysis related to future development projects in Montclair will be completed soon. Parallel running of the A Line and Metrolink systems between Pomona and Montclair has also been identified as an advantage because Metrolink will absorb A Line ridership demand that exceeds passenger capacity. The A Line currently operates at capacity, and Metro has determined that the A Line must add additional train cars or increase operating headways from 8 minutes to every 5 minutes in order to meet growth in ridership demand. The four new A Line stations in Glendora, La Verne, San Dimas and Pomona, alone, are projected to add 11,400 additional riders each day; Claremont and Montclair stations are projected to add 7,800 additional daily riders. Growth in A Line ridership demand necessitates a combination of solutions that include additional A Line train cars, improved headways, and parallel operations between Metrolink and the A Line from Pomona to the Montclair Transit Center — the only transit station outside of Union Station that has Continue Path on Page 8
4. Parallel Running of Metrolink and A Line from Pomona to Montclair.
each segment of the A Line as they are completed by the Construction Authority; and provides that the Construction Authority shall enter into cooperative construction and funding agreements with respective governing agencies. Extension of Southern California’s expansive rail network across political borders always requires the commitment of private companies and State and local governing agencies working together to achieve inter-agency cooperation to see projects through to completion. 2. Construction Authority Board Representation. Directors objected to the lack of a voting seat for SBCTA on the Construction Authority’s Board of Directors. In fact, in 2018, Montclair sponsored a bill, AB 2417 (2018) , authored by Assemblymember Freddie Rodriguez, that would introduce a change to membership on the Construction Authority Board by granting Montclair a voting seat, thus giving San Bernardino County two out of six voting seats — one voting seat is currently held by the City of Ontario. SBCTA stated opposition to the bill unless it was amended to give the agency its own voting seat. However, at that time, State legislators were unwilling to support legislation granting three voting seats to San Bernardino County when it was then unclear when the light rail system would be extended into San Bernardino County. During recent negotiations for a cooperative agreement to extend the A Line to the Montclair Transit Center, the Construction
Authority agreed to support legislation granting SBCTA a voting seat on the Construction Authority Board of Directors. 3. Length of Time the Project Has Been on the Books. The light rail extension to Montclair has been an SBCTA project since at least 2004, when voters of San Bernardino County overwhelmingly approved the A Line extension to Montclair as part of Measure I’s Expenditure Plan. During the 21 years after Measure I was adopted the State, Metro, the San Gabriel Valley COG and SBCTA have been the agencies tasked with funding the light rail extension from Pasadena and, ultimately, into San Bernardino County. Concurrently, the Construction Authority has been tasked with project design and construction of the A Line extension. Over the past two decades, SBCTA had not been tasked with any work related to design or construction of the A Line extension through Los Angeles County. Now, with the Construction Authority recently completing the Glendora to Pomona Segment of the A Line, SBCTA was asked in early 2025 to become involved with various construction and funding approvals for the Montclair Segment. SBCTA staff asked for a cooperative agreement (Memorandum of Understanding) and controlling oversight for project design and construction. Ultimately, the Construction Authority and SBCTA were unable to come to terms on levels of responsibility, leading to a lack of resolution on the cooperative agreement.
Several SBCTA Directors consider extension of the A Line from Pomona to Montclair a redundancy because the Metrolink San Bernardino Line already runs between Pomona and Montclair, and that parallel running of the two rail lines would ultimately harm farebox recovery for both systems, and cost additional dollars in ongoing maintenance and operations. Metro studies demonstrate that between Claremont and Montclair, the A Line is projected to add up 7,800 additional daily boardings, and Metrolink would pick up 2,500 to 5,000 additional daily boardings. These estimates are supported by an independent market analysis demonstrating that an estimated 33,000 San Bernardino County residents who work in A Line corridor cities live in and around Montclair including in the cities of Upland, Ontario and Chino; and 24,000 Los Angeles County residents living in cities along the A Line corridor work in the Montclair area, including in the cities of Upland, Ontario and Chino. These cross-county workers represent a pool of potential riders for the A Line into and out of the Montclair Transit Center — riders who would contribute greatly to improving the farebox recovery ratio, resulting in reduced maintenance and operation costs for SBCTA, if not actually produce profitability for light rail services in San Bernardino County. The independent market analysis also demonstrates that San Bernardino
A Line train traveling through Glendora Avenue grade crossing in Glendora
A Line train at new Pomona North Station
6 | CITY OF MONTCLAIR | TRANSIT UPDATE
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