The planned 3.3-mile extension of the A Line light-rail line from Pomona to Montclair will pump millions of dollars and add hundreds of high-paying construction jobs into San Bernardino County, a new study says.
During six years of construction, from 2026 through 2032, the Claremont-Montclair extension will add 580 jobs for a labor income boost of $45.9 million. The average worker added would earn $73,100 annually. In addition, the economy in San Bernardino County would receive an $80.3 million injection over six years from dollars kicked in by the San Bernardino County Construction Transportation Authority, according to a report from Kleinhenz Economics.
The report, released by the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority last week, the independent agency that is building the extension, is timed to coincide with an upcoming vote by the SBCTA’s transit committee to start funding their portion of the project. The committee delayed a vote in August and has scheduled a funding vote for next month.
Without committing the funds, or failing to sign an agreement with the Monrovia-based construction authority, the first line in LA Metro history to reach into San Bernardino County could be in jeopardy.
The project is seen as a game-changer that would remove 15,000 car trips from the roads each day, including Inland Empire single-passenger commuters who jam the 210, 10 and 60 freeways every weekday morning to job sites in Los Angeles County and drive back home in the evenings.
“People from San Bernardino County are driving into L.A. County for work. This train will allow them to avoid a car, they would not have that much gasoline and maintenance expenses, and have more disposable income to spend in our county,” said Montclair City Councilmember Bill Ruh, who also sits on the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority Joint Powers Authority.
The Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority accepted $798 million from LA Metro on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. The money allows the Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority to build the line’s extension from Pomona to Claremont and Montclair, along with $80 million from San Bernardino County. It would become the first extension of an LA Metro train into San Bernardino County. Seen here is an artist rendering of the Montclair A Line Station to be built at the Montclair Transit Center. (image courtesy of the Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority).The report hints at the line used by commuters in two ways, going from L.A. County cities into western SB County cities such as Montclair, Ontario and Upland for work, and those living in San Bernardino County cities taking the A Line light-rail train into Pomona, to the city of Hope in Duarte, the Claremont Colleges, Pasadena, downtown Los Angeles and even South L.A. and Long Beach to job sites.
There are 133,000 workers living in San Bernardino County who go to work in L.A. County, while 61,000 commute the other way from LA County into SB County. Those in the latter category may be going to work at SB County schools as teachers and aides or to Ontario International Airport, and to hospitals in Montclair, Upland and Ontario, Ruh said.
The combined commuter flow — jamming the 210, 10 and even 60 freeways — between the two counties amounts to 194,000 workers, and that is “equivalent of a medium-sized city,” the Kleinhenz report stated.
“The point is that cross-county commuting is a common occurrence with flows occurring in both directions, suggesting that there is a need for transportation solutions that cross county lines,” the report concluded.
The A line, like most LA Metro light-rail lines, has waits or headways that range from between eight 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 is much less than Metrolink, a heavy-rail passenger line that already exists at the Montclair Transit Center but only continues west to Claremont, Pomona, El Monte, Covina, Cal State L.A. and Union Station.
The Claremont and Montclair A Line stations would add 8,000 daily boardings or about half of the line’s total adjusted ridership, reports estimated. The A Line stops at foothill communities, Pasadena, L.A. and Long Beach.
The two lines, Gold Line light-rail in yellow, Metrolink commuter rail in blue, will be at the same station for the first time (not counting Union Station) at Pomona by Sept. 19, 2025 and then Claremont and Montclair. A new LA Metro study shows a synergy between the two lines, both of which would increase in weekday ridership in the next few years after the Gold Line is extended. (courtesy of LA Metro)The need for the longest light-rail line in the county, the A Line, to get extended into SB County took several years to be recognized as an urgent need to cut back on worsening gridlock on the 210 and reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global climate change.
The state Legislature gave the Foothill Extension Construction Authority the power to build the project into San Bernardino County in 2011. But the construction authority 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.
LA Metro awarded $798 million to build the A Line — formerly the Gold Line — extension from Pomona to Claremont and Montclair in November 2024. But President Trump’s tariffs, and other inflationary pressures caused bids to skyrocket and were rejected. The project design contract went out to bid anew in June and proposals are due Oct. 15. A construction manager contract will go out to bid in November, the Construction Authority reported. If bids are accepted, construction will start early next year with completion toward the end of 2031.
For every dollar invested into the project the amount gets multiplied, the report explained.
For example, the money for the San Bernardino County construction phase gets multiplied by 1.4 million, meaning every $1 million or direct expenditures results in $1.4 million in total output. The money has a ripple effect through the supply chain and through construction workers spending their incomes locally.
Therefore, total output over six years of construction is estimated at $112.3 million.
Operational costs for trains running every eight minutes would be multiplied by 3.5, which is more than double that of the construction phase multiplier of 1.4. So, every $1 million in direct operating expenditures for the Gold Line supports $3.5 million in total output, the report explained.
As a result, money spent to operate the San Bernardino County portion will eventually pay for the investment and start making money for the agency.
Over three years of operating in the San Bernardino County portion, direct expenditures are estimated to be $16 million, while indirect and induced expenditures contribute another $40.4 million for a total output effect of $56.4 million, the report stated.
“Both the construction and the operations phases of the Gold Line are expected to generate additional economic output, jobs and wages, and tax revenues for San Bernardino County,” the report concluded.
Related links
A-Line extension into Montclair faces crucial vote by San Bernardino County transit agency San Bernardino County transit agency delays vote on A-line extension to Montclair A Line light-rail extension from Azusa to Pomona set to open in late summer Underground shuttle project to Ontario International Airport moves forward LA Metro awards funding to extend light-rail line into San Bernardino County
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