Originally Posted by
bzcat
Gold line extension to ONT is something nice to have, not something that needs to happen. From a regional transportation standpoint, double track and electrification of the Metrolink San Bernandino line is much more of a priority and will benefit far more riders than yet another quixotic extension of the Gold line with low projected ridership.
The Gold Line extension isn't quixotic to the millions of taxpayers in the San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys who pay more because of Measure R. If you're against providing more transportation options for that part of LA County, there's probably nothing I can say to convince you that rail to ONT is worthwhile.
Originally Posted by
bzcat
Oh really? So the decline of ONT is also just a function of geography, population, and because it is an O&D airport right?
I'm hoping that your emoticon means that you're joking.
Originally Posted by
bzcat
The Metrolink station at ONT was talked about before as well but SB County did not want to pay for a study, never mind the likely construction of the actual station.
Not true. As I wrote in the first section of text you quoted, the San Bernardino Associated Governments (SANBag) spent close to $600k to study rail connections to ONT.
http://www.dailybulletin.com/general...nection-to-ont
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I don't think that rail lines to airports always make sense. For them to work, you need to be connecting the airport with population centers without forcing people to switch trains. If you can do that at a reasonable cost, it's worth the effort. A good example in Southern California is Burbank (BUR) airport. As two different Metrolink lines run adjacent to BUR, it makes sense to have stations for the airport.
Connecting rail to ONT also makes sense because most of the right-of-way exists and there is room for a station. There also is local support, which means there won't be lawsuits like what happened with the Expo line.
For an example of foolish spending on rail would be LAX. Even if there was a Metro station directly at LAX, that doesn't mean people will use it because of the current system would require one or more transfers to get to major population centers.