FUD Wrote:
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> With most of the line being in streets, it won't
> be a fast ride. Of course, they do need some way
> to gather/distribute riders from the tunnel under
> Sepulveda Pass. Connecting Metrolink and Amtrak in
> the Valley is hardly a significant proposition,
> though.
>
> IMO, a good Valley rail transit deal would include
> extending the Red Line from N Hollywood to Burbank
> Airport (the airport itself, plus maybe the HSR
> station), and a connection from the airport to
> Pasadena Gold Line. At the moment, if you fly into
> Burbank (which is the best airport for access to
> downtown LA) but want to go to the SGV, you have
> to ride Metrolink downtown then the Gold Line back
> out, or take the occasional local bus from N
> Hollywood Metro (there's a shuttle from the
> airport) that trundles by back streets (often
> within sight of the freeway, but never on it) over
> the hill to Pasadena. The longer (to and from
> downtown LA) trip is actually shorter in time, but
> neither even remotely competes with Uber or having
> somebody pick you up. Or even renting a car and
> driving, including the 1/2 hour or more to get to
> the off-airport rental site and do the paperwork.
> Ultimate alternative is fly into Ontario and rent
> a car (no other practical option there).
r
The Red line might make more sense, with a connection to the north and south BUR stations and the new terminal, but it is not cheap.

I have been involved in studies several of these Pasadena to Burbank/BUR alternatives, I'm not very impressed with the benefits, and the costs could be very high. BUR is just not that big of a jobs or trip generator (compared to something like LAX, or even Ontario), and all of the routes between Pasadena and Burbank are costly, and cannot connect to many of the disparate off line travel destinations to major employment, cultural, or shopping centers, or would require big impacts, long meandering routing, and expensive construction. Pasadena to BUR is a continual the pipe dream of the Mayor of Glendale, and, it attracts a new look every ten years (due to staff and politician turnover "erasing" the previous learning curve), because superficially it seems to make more sense, until you actually look at travel patterns in the corridor, and do cost benefit on some of the proposed routes.

When we actually get some of the current project list done, and in operation, maybe some of these might make more sense. Until then, even the SFV westside route (which has a lot of "iffy" "off corridor" origin and destination travel patterns difficult to serve by rail) will be a difficult challenge.