Dear San Gabriel Valley Residents and Supporters of the Gold Line Foothill Extension,
Last year, we started the I Will Ride campaign as a tool for students to pledge their support for the funding and construction of the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension. What began at Mt. Sierra College as a student project in Professor Glenn Dunki-Jacob’s classroom rapidly spread to nearly a dozen colleges in the San Gabriel Valley.
Our rallying cry was: If you build it, I will ride it.
Our challenge back then was to convince the Los Angeles-based Metro Board to put up $80 million so the Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority could pursue $320 million in federal matching funds to construct and complete the extension.
We gathered hundreds of people to sign petitions, launched a website, spoke out to the media, and made our presence felt at the Metro Board meetings. Unfortunately, the Metro Board didn’t see the light and refused to give the money. However, we were able to generate a lot of support and force Metro to include funding for the Foothill Extension in Measure R, the sales tax initiative to raise money for transportation projects in Los Angeles County. While that effort was successful, our path to the construction of the Foothill Extension still faces more obstacles.
No work can be done on the line until Metro allocates money from the $40 billion Measure R pot. This is where our new struggle begins. Despite pre-election assurances from the Metro Board that our project would receive priority funding, we now find the Foothill Extension behind other pet projects – again.
Today we’re passing the baton to the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority to carry on the same message to the rest of the San Gabriel Valley: if you build it, I will ride it. I Will Ride is no longer just about the students. It’s about every resident in the San Gabriel Valley whose lives and commutes will improve when the Foothill Extension is built. We need the funding now. We need your help.
Join us and make the pledge: I will ride.
Sincerely,
Professor Glenn Dunki-Jacobs
Kristen Manes
Peter Zhou
Mitch McKenzie
Dustin Schmidt
I will ride . . . but it needs to be completed all the way to Claremont. I rode the Gold Line last week to go to an event in LA . . . I love it, but I have to drive halfway there to Pasadena! Please come to Claremont!!
[…] it may not be covered in Gold Line Foothill logos, the first post at I Will Ride tells of the site being turned over from the students to the Construction Authority so it’s not […]
I would like to ride the gold line for work or entertainment. It would save a lot of gas, polution. Many opportunities have already been missed because of the length of time it is taking to get funding. Please fund this project.