Thursday, March 29, 2007

Eastward Ho! Gold Line to Ontario

Just in case anyone hasn't gotten their fix of Gold Line news and commentary, it turns out Ontario wants to get in on the Gold Line party. Jason Newell at the Daily Bulletin reports:

The idea of making the airport the final destination on the Gold Line light-rail service that runs from Los Angeles to Pasadena seems to be gaining favor, Mayor Paul Leon said Tuesday.

Leon addressed the Gold Line possibility during an aviation summit at LA/Ontario International, where aviation experts and airport officials discussed the airport's future and impact on the region.

It seems like a wonderful idea, but does bring into critical relief what a lot of critics have been pointing out for some time: light rail isn't exactly the speediest way to get around, not to mention the low volume of riders it actually carries (thought that debate isn't going to be resolved any time soon). Happily, those questions have plenty of time to resolve themselves, since it's looking like it will be a decade until the Gold Line even reaches Montclair. In the interim, anyone interested in expressing how they'd jump on the Gold Line to Ontario in a heartbeat should sound off in the comments.

Favorite quote of the article definitely comes from pro-airport consultant Jock O'Connell (sweet name):

"You can build a better mousetrap, but the world won't beat a path to your door unless there's a two-mile-long runway in your front yard," he said.

Ah, but of course.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I really never have any business in the I.E. so, I wouldn't care if the Gold Line really went that far east.

Public transportation in this area will not get better until more people take it..which isn't going to happen.

It's a paradox, really.

Anonymous said...

But think of the PR coup that would be! The Ontario Airport. Acessible from a Metrorail line. (We had to go out of LA County to make it happen.) Sure, it may take forever to get it built that far, but there'd be at least ONE airport in the Los Angeles World Airports franchise that would be directly reached by the LA-area Metro rail trains.

Why the Green Line can deliver you near but not directly to the front door of LAX is a mystery (to me). This would at least make up for that huge planning/turf/brainfart gaffe.

[currently residing in a location w/in walking distance of the future Monrovia station. I'm sure my mortgage will be all paid off by the time the airport stop come to fruition]