The following excerpt appeared in the Pasadena Star-News, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin and San Bernardino Sun on August 6, 2021. To read the full op-ed (may require subscription), click here.

Assemblymember Chris Holden: Golden opportunity to expand light rail in San Gabriel Valley – San Gabriel Valley Tribune

A Metro L (Gold) Line trolley pulls in to the Lake Ave station in Pasadena in 2018. (Photo by Nick Agro, Contributing Photographer)

By Chris Holden

August 6, 2021

[excerpt]:

Right now, we have an opportunity to invest in a climate-friendly transportation solution that can be built and operational by the time athletes from around the world arrive in Southern California. I, along with lawmakers from the San Gabriel Valley, am calling on Governor Gavin Newsom to fund the completion of the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension light rail project. The $540 million investment would further extend the Metro Gold Line to Montclair by 2026.

I have seen firsthand how transformative the Gold Line has been for the San Gabriel Valley. My advocacy for sustainable transit solutions began more than 30 years ago as a former Pasadena mayor and City Council member. I served on the task force that helped establish the Metro Gold Line and worked with our community to help identify the initial light rail routes. As an assemblymember, I chair the Select Committee on Regional Transportation Solutions, where we have called for climate-resilient transit throughout Southern California. I will continue to push for the Gold Line to expand further until it extends from the Burbank to the Ontario airports. This solution that will bring climate action and economic benefits to our region.

The funding we have requested will jumpstart the latest Gold Line extension that will connect two large counties and bring much-needed relief to one of the busiest commute corridors in the country. San Bernardino County is home to some of the state’s worst congestion and air quality. We have an urgent need to clean our air and curtail climate change effects. Extending the Gold Line will link millions of new users to Metro’s rail and bus network.

We know rail lines are catalysts for economic development. Significant growth in housing and jobs has already commenced within a ½-mile of the future stations. Students at nearly two dozen universities and colleges will have access within a short walk, bike or bus ride to a future station.

To read the full op-ed (may require subscription), click here.