I have done some work on this proposed LRT extension of the Gold Line to the Ontario Airport over the years, and am familiar with ridership projections and costs. This extension is, as of now, is truly a taxpayer turkey, compared to a number of other competing projects. High speed (aka Metrolink) connections would be far more cost effective in getting passengers to and from Ontario.

All of the current proposed routes, beyond Claremont, for the proposed Gold Line connection to Ontario Airport are lengthy, costly, and would serve very few patrons. Even the current proposed next phase, beyond Citrus College, to Claremont is a relatively poor performer for the cost.

Habib has been very successful in getting the current extension, because of aggressive cost controls, and strong political support, for a relatively cheap and cost effective project adjacent to the I-210 parking lot. Beyond a short extension to Glendora or maybe to a Metrolink connection at San Dimas or La Verne, the proposed additional extensions become very costly, duplicative of Metrolink services, and produce very few additional riders.

SANBAG is quite right to be skeptical of a project that would take a significant commitment of resources and produce very few benefits for the taxpayers of that County.