Partnering Agencies: Transportation
The SGVCOG partners with two major transportation agencies, Foothill Transit and the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro). Within Metro, the San Gabriel Valley is serviced by the San Gabriel Valley Service Sector. Additionally, Metro operates the Goldline Foothill East Construction Authority.
Foothill Transit
www.foothilltransit.org
Foothill Transit, a joint powers authority of 21 member cities in the San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys, was created in 1988 after the former Southern California Rapid Transit District (RTD) announced service cuts and fare increases that would negatively impact the San Gabriel Valley cities. The 21 member cities include:
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· Arcadia
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· Irwindale
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· Azusa
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· La Puente
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· Baldwin Park
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· La Verne
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· Bradbury
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· Monrovia
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· Claremont
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· Pomona
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· Covina
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· San Dimas
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· Diamond Bar
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· South El Monte
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· Duarte
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· Temple City
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· El Monte
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· Walnut
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· Glendora
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· West Covina
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· Industry
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In an effort to provide better bus service to the community while reducing costs and improving local control, the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission (LACTC) approved Foothill Transit''s application to assume operation of 14 lines which were operated by RTD. Foothill Transit now operates 35 fixed-route local, express and rail-feeder lines, covers 327 square miles, and serves 16 million customers each year, making it the second-largest fixed route public transit provider in Southern California. This number is up from 9.5 million boardings at the time of Foothill Transit’s original application.
In 2001, the American Public Transportation Association recognized Foothill Transit with a “Bus Safety Gold Award,” dubbing Foothill Transit the safest transit agency of its size. Foothill Transit was also named “Outstanding Transit System” of its size by APTA in 1993 and 1995. The National Safety Council, Greater Los Angeles Chapter, recognized Foothill Transit in 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998 and 2001 with first-place awards for its safety programs.
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro)
www.metro.net
Metro is the produce of the merger of two previous agencies: the Southern California Rapid Transit District (SCRTD) and the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission (LACTC). SCRTD was created in 1964 to serve the urbanized Southern California region, including Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Orange and Riverside Counties. SCRTD was placed in charge of creating a heavy rail public transportation system for Southern California, and for planning for bus improvements. In 1973, SCRTD shed parts of its operations outside of Los Angeles County, although it continued to operate inter-county service to Riverside and San Bernardino.
The LACTC was formed in 1976 as a requirement of all counties in the State to form local transportation commissions. Its main objective was to be the guardian of all transportation funding, both transit and highway, for Los Angeles County. The creation of LACTC required the SCRTD to share some of its power.
Currently, Metro is unique among the nation''s transportation agencies. It serves as transportation planner and coordinator, designer, builder and operator for one of the country''s largest, most populous counties. Besides operating over 2,000 peak-hour buses on an average weekday, Metro also designed, built and now operates 73.1 miles of Metro Rail service. The Metro Rail system consists of the Metro Red Line subway system, the Metro Blue Line, the Metro Green Line, and the Metro Gold Line. In total, the Metro Rail system serves 62 rail stations stretching from Long Beach to downtown Los Angeles to North Hollywood in the San Fernando Valley, and from downtown Los Angeles to Pasadena. In addition to operating its own service, Metro funds 16 municipal bus operators and funds a wide array of transportation projects including bikeways and pedestrian facilities, local roads and highway improvements, goods movement, and Metrolink.
Metro is governed by a 13-member Board of Directors is comprised of:
- The five Los Angeles County Supervisors
- The Mayor of Los Angeles
- Three Los Angeles mayor-appointed members
- Four city council members representing the other 87 cities in Los Angeles County.
- The Governor of California appoints one non-voting member.
Metro San Gabriel Valley Service Sector
http://www.metro.net/about_us/service_sectors/sgv/sgv.htm
In 2000, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Agency (Metro) began cutting bus services in the San Gabriel Valley. Some of the cities in the San Gabriel Valley found these reductions unacceptable, and sought to develop and provide their own bus services. This caused Metro to re-think their bus services, establishing the Metro San Gabriel Valley Service Sector as well as four other regional sectors, each with Governance Councils so that Metro services could better serve each community.
Service Sector Governance Councils oversee the planning and implementation of services within their area. Their responsibilities include: approving the sector budget within designated funding levels; calling and conducting public hearings for sector bus lines; approving and evaluating sector programs; implementing service changes; reviewing and developing policy recommendations to the Metro Board; ensuring compliance with Metro policies, procedures and legal agreements (e.g. labor agreements and the Consent Decree); providing input into the Sector General Manager''s performance review; and participating in annual meetings with the Metro Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Deputy CEO, and other Sector Governance Councils and General Managers.
The cities and communities served in the sector include: Alhambra, Altadena, Arcadia, Baldwin Park, Covina, Diamond Bar, Duarte, East Los Angeles, El Monte, Industry, Irwindale, La Canada Flintridge, La Puente, Monrovia, Montebello, Monterey Park, Pasadena, Pomona, Rosemead, San Gabriel, San Marino, Sierra Madre, South El Monte, South Pasadena, Temple City, Walnut, and West Covina.
The SGVCOG recognized that Metro was not interested in moving forward in designing and building a light rail line from downtown Los Angeles through the San Gabriel Valley Foothill communities. In 1999, SGVCOG worked together to develop State legislation and obtain state funds to establish the Los Angeles to Pasadena Blue Line Construction Authority. The first phase of the project, from downtown Los Angeles through Pasadena, was completed in 2003 and was the first light rail project in Los Angeles County to be built on time and under budget. The name of the rail line was changed to the Gold Line and Metro rode on the coattails of success of this rail project to develop the Gold Line Eastside Extension to East Los Angeles College in Monterey Park.
The next phase of the project has been renamed the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority. The light rail extension will continue to the cities of Arcadia, Monrovia, Duarte, Irwindale, Azusa, Glendora, San Dimas, La Verne, Pomona, Claremont and Montclair. A trip from Montclair to downtown Pasadena would take a little over 40 minutes and further to Los Angeles would take approximately 75 minutes. Light rail will assist with the planning goals of redistributing growth and strengthening established downtowns in the foothill communities. It will offer shorter commuting trips, increased energy savings (estimated 1.5 million gallons of gasoline each year) and reduced levels of pollution (estimated 4 tons of carbon monoxide).
Alameda Corridor-East
http://www.theaceproject.org/
The ACE Construction Authority is a single purpose construction authority created by the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments in 1998 to mitigate the impacts of significant increases in rail traffic over 70 miles of mainline railroad in the San Gabriel Valley. Train traffic through the Valley will increase by as much as 160 percent by the year 2020.
The ACE Project consists of multiple construction projects including near-term, low cost mobility improvements that encompass safety upgrades and grade separations. ACE has completed Jump Start safety improvements at 39 crossings. Of the 20 planned grade separation projects, construction is complete for the first six projects and underway or funded for the next four projects. The remaining ten grade separations are partially funded by 2006 State Transportation Bonds ($336 million) and Los Angeles County Metro Measure R funds ($400 million).
The project is designed to improve mobility and safety by:
-Constructing safety improvements at 39 crossings;
-Constructing grade separations at 20 rail crossings, resulting in 22 grade crossing eliminations; and,
-Reducing the amount of time Valley residents spend waiting at rail crossings.
Project Benefits
- Improves safety at 39 rail crossings as well as at 20 grade separations in the San Gabriel Valley.
- Stops 221 annual tons of air pollutants from being emitted in the worst air basin in the nation.
- Reduces a projected 300% increase in auto/truck traffic delay at crossings resulting from up to 160%
increase in rail traffic and 40% increase in vehicular traffic.
- Connects the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to the transcontinental rail network creating a faster,
more efficient method for distributing an estimated $314 billion worth of trade by the year 2020.
- Maintains the economic vitality of the San Gabriel Valley by protecting 634,000 existing jobs and the
192,000 new jobs in the San Gabriel Valley projected by 2020.
- Contributes to continued growth in the national, state and local economy by facilitating expanded trade.
