How to impact the future of train, mass transit service in the Inland Valley – Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

The following article appeared in the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin on July 8, 2016.

How to impact the future of train, mass transit service in the Inland Valley – Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

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Passengers enter the Metrolink 383 express train from Covina station in this 2014 file photo. FILE PHOTO

By Liset Marquez

July 8, 2016

Attention commuters (and those who love trains): If you care about the future of transit and rail in the Inland Valley, two open-house meetings are planned locally [this] week.

The meetings in Upland and Pomona will give the public a chance to provide feedback on future projects, such as the Metro Gold Line light-rail, Metrolink San Bernardino Line, bus rapid transit and 10 Freeway carpool and ExpressLanes.

The Southern California Association of Governments is looking to develop a coordinated transit and rail strategy that best serves the needs of residents, workforce and commercial commerce.

The meetings are being held with SCAG, the San Bernardino Associated Governments and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority,

Planners will be available to discuss future projects and the public will be able to complete a survey.

Objectives of the study:

• Understand the market for transit and rail travel in the corridor, including travel to and from Ontario International Airport.

• Estimate potential benefits and costs associated with transit and rail improvement options for the corridor.

• Recommend a path forward for cost-effective transit and rail improvements, with a focus on coordinating plans for the Metro Gold Line, Metrolink and access to ONT.

Tuesday’s meeting will be held in Upland at the George M. Gibson Senior Center, 250 N. Third Ave. On Wednesday, a meeting will be held in Pomona at the Palomares Academy of Health Sciences, 2211 N. Orange Grove Ave. Both meetings will be from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

The survey also can be completed online at www.SCAG-ICS-Survey.com.

For more information about the study go towww.scag.ca.gov/programs/Pages/InterCountyTransitRail.aspx.

1 comment

  1. Frank Mastroly says:

    There should much more emphasis on inter-county service, particularly to and from Orange County.

    At one time, OCTA was conducting a 4-corner study involving LA, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties. Apparently nothing if anything came out of this study.

    I feel the lack of inter-county transit other than Metrolink and one infrequent OCTA line is totally unacceptable. It was far superior when the Pacific Electric and its successors such as the SCRTD provided inter-county service.

    Omnitrans apparently has a single line into Pomona where connections can be made to Foothill Transit. But to prove my point, the LA County area is greyed out, as if treated as “foreign territory.”

    The New York Transit Authority covers the entire city as well as commuter rail lines to Westchester County and Long Island. Although each borough has its own local bus system, there are inter-borough express bus lines in addition to the subways. Such a bus system should be established in the four-county area. Metro, Foothill, OCTA, RTA, and Omitrans can still have their local systems, but there needs to be much more inter-county bus and eventually rail transit. If this requires new legislation to create a new agency, then so be it.

    This mess needs to change ASAP.

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