SGV Connect

In this week's SGV Connect, Damien Newton speaks with Habib Balian, CEO of the Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority, about the recent extension of the A Line into the San Gabriel Valley and plans for the next phase to Claremont. Since opening in September, the extension has seen steady ridership and strong community support, restoring passenger rail service to parts of the valley for the first time in decades. Balian said the project has provided a much-needed alternative to the congested 210 Freeway and has improved transit connections, including better bus integration with Foothill Transit and easier access to major colleges along the corridor. The conversation then turns to the proposed Pomona-to-Claremont extension. After high bids under the traditional design-build model, the agency shifted to a Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) approach to reduce contractor risk amid economic uncertainty. Parsons has been hired to complete final design, with construction anticipated to begin in early 2028. Beyond mobility, Balian emphasized economic impacts, including transit-oriented development, job creation, and an estimated $500 million in economic output during the first three years of operations. Cities along the corridor are planning housing and development near stations in anticipation of the extension. A lightly edited version of the transcript can be found below. Streetsblog's San Gabriel Valley coverage is supported by Foothill Transit, offering car-free travel throughout the San Gabriel Valley with connections to the A Line Stations across the Foothills and Commuter Express lines traveling into the heart of downtown L.A. To plan your trip, visit Foothill Transit. "Foothill Transit. Going Good Places."     Transcript Damien Newton: Welcome to our annual update. I'm joined again by CEO Habib Balian. Thank you for being here. When we spoke last April, the latest extension of the Gold Line — now the A Line — hadn't yet opened. Since then, it launched in September and has been operating for several months. Let's start with how the rollout and handoff to Metro have gone. Habib Balian: Since April, we've held station dedications and worked closely with Metro to transition the line into full service. The opening ceremony drew hundreds of officials and supporters. Ridership has been steady, and the response has been very positive. It's been nearly 75 years since passenger rail served parts of the San Gabriel Valley, so this offers a real alternative to the 210 Freeway. Metro has operated the line since September, and we're pleased with how things are progressing. Newton: Turning to the next extension, from Pomona to Claremont — bids came in high under the design-build model. Why change approaches? Balian: Design-build has served us well for two decades, but contractors are increasingly risk-averse, especially given tariffs and market uncertainty. That risk translated into higher bids. We've pivoted to a Construction Manager at Risk model. Parsons will complete the design to 100 percent over the next 18 months. A contractor will then review constructability and pricing, allowing us to move toward construction in early 2028 with greater cost certainty. Newton: Rail projects aren't just about transportation. We've seen improved bus coordination and major transit-oriented development along the corridor. You recently released a report on the economic benefits of the Claremont extension. Balian: Yes. Development around stations in Pasadena, Monrovia, Azusa, and beyond has been significant. Cities are planning housing and mixed-use projects near stations, often years in advance. Beyond development, construction has created thousands of jobs. During operations, we project nearly $500 million in economic output within the first three years. The line also uniquely connects numerous colleges — from Pasadena City College to Azusa Pacific and the Claremont Colleges — making it an important educational corridor. Newton: What happens first once construction begins? Balian: The corridor is about 100 feet wide and currently includes Metrolink and freight tracks. Early work will involve relocating those tracks to make room for two new light-rail tracks, along with bridge construction and right-of-way improvements. Track installation will follow. Newton: Final thoughts? Balian: Awarding the design contract is our immediate priority. We expect to select a CMAR contractor this summer and begin construction in January 2028. It's a billion-dollar project with four bridges and significant regional impact. Cities want this line, and we're eager to deliver it. Newton: Thanks again for the update. We look forward to talking next year as construction moves closer.      

LA Public Press reporter Phoenix Tso joins us for our first podcast of the year. Tso covered mutual aid efforts immediately after last January's Eaton Fire in the Altadena area of the San Gabriel Mountains. Marking the anniversary of the 14,000 acre fire that destroyed 10,000 structures and took at least 19 lives, Tso checked in again with small business owners rebuilding their lives back from the disaster. Struggles are plenty: insurance claims, fire remediation, lost income, lost neighbors and customers, and real estate development. The stories Tso shares with us are somber, but remind us why the community needs support from the San Gabriel Valley at large. A lightly edited transcript of the conversation can be found below. Streetsblog's San Gabriel Valley coverage is supported by Foothill Transit, offering car-free travel throughout the San Gabriel Valley with connections to the A Line Stations across the Foothills and Commuter Express lines traveling into the heart of downtown L.A. To plan your trip, visit Foothill Transit. "Foothill Transit. Going Good Places."Sign-up for our SGV Connect Newsletter, coming to your inbox on Fridays! Chris Greenspon - This is SGV Connect 145. I'm Chris Greenspon. This is our first podcast of the new year. We hope you all had a good break. Quickly, before we begin, though, I just want to remind you that Streetsblog's San Gabriel Valley coverage is supported by Foothill Transit, offering car free travel throughout the San Gabriel Valley with connections to the A Line Stations across the foothills and commuter express lines traveling into the heart of downtown LA. To plan your trip, visit Foothill transit.org. Foothill Transit "Going good places".  Today, we're looking back at the one year anniversary of the Eaton Fire and recovery efforts to keep the community intact. Here as our guest, we have Phoenix Tso reporter for LA Public Press. Phoenix, welcome back to SGV Connect.  Phoenix Tso - Thank you for having me.  Chris - So earlier this week, you filed a story checking in with business owners in Altadena who've been able to reopen a year after the fire. How are people holding up now, a year later?  Phoenix - Yeah, I just did a story on small business owners whose businesses were affected by the Eaton Fire in Altadena one year later. I think it's kind of a mixed bag. I talked to a bunch of people who were able to reopen. Some, like, just a couple months ago, reopened. One person actually, technically never closed. She said she was the only person in her shopping plaza, without a working air conditioning and a patchy roof,  all burned up.  But the building was luckily intact, and her store was luckily intact. She runs a print and copying shop. So, yeah, it's a mixed bag.  Some people, their businesses burned down completely. It's a total loss. One person I talked to runs a martial arts studio, and she actually bought the land that her studio was standing on. She's trying to rebuild, trying to raise the money, and she says that, like, it'll probably take three to five years for her to come back and for the community to really come back. Yes, there's businesses that have reopened, but there's just not as many people back in Altadena one year later.  Chris - And what's the mood? Phoenix - It's somber. I would say.  I think there's still a big community feel, though. A lot of these businesses were pillars of the community, and they're where people gather still…or gather even more. For example, Fair Oaks Burger, they closed during the fire, and they didn't reopen until June, basically because of smoke remediation issues and debris and everything like that. But they kept doing mutual aid operations in their parking lot. They worked with the World Central Kitchen to distribute food, and they ended up partnering with different groups to do grocery distributions. So they've still been around in Altadena, and there are a lot of community events there, and a lot of the community really gathers there. Business is slower than before, but people did come back after Fair Oaks Burger reopened.  Chris - What kind of community is this and why do people want to preserve it? Obviously, every time a community has a tragedy, we hear some of the same descriptors. But what makes Altadena Altadena? Phoenix - I think Altadena is special because it's technically urban. It's close to LA but it really does have a small town feel. I wonder if Altadena residents would agree with me…of like a Gilmore Girls type of feel. It's right by the mountains. It's beautiful up there. It's a little isolated and out of the way.  People who like a quiet, sort of nature…very close to nature, type of community that still is also close to urban amenities. I think they love that. As has been said it's a historically black community. It's one of the few communities where black people are allowed to own homes for a long time, and that community has been affected heavily by the fire.There's a big question whether they'll be able to make a comeback, especially with a lot of corporate developers buying up lots that have burned down.  So it's actually a very diverse working class community as well. It's kind of unique in that sense, very different from the Palisades fire. Where the Pacific Palisades is one of the wealthiest communities in LA County. The diversity, the mix, but also like a very tight knit community. I think when you go out to community events, there is a small business fair on Small Business Saturday, right after Thanksgiving, you could definitely see a lot of the community out there, and people knowing each other, and really breaking bread together. Chris - And it still has a little bit of that 'Dena' cultural feel with the hippie stuff and the art galleries.  Phoenix - Yeah, definitely. And in fact, I talked to an art gallery owner who started dedicating his gallery to artists affected by the fire in Altadena and Pasadena. And he said, "Yeah, the support that people are showing those artists is really amazing." Chris - So you spoke to a range of different types of businesses. You spoke to the gallerist. You spoke to somebody who's trying to get a martial arts studio back up and running, hopefully in a few years. You spoke to somebody who owned a print and copy shop and I think a restaurant or two. Overall, what are the challenges that they spoke about in getting reopened?  Phoenix - Yeah, I think their insurance companies were a big challenge.  I interviewed a lot of business owners at Mariposa junction, which is one of the few shopping areas where one of the buildings burned down, but one did not burn down. So those businesses have come back. So I think that's a big challenge.  Oh, the gallery owner I talked to. His name is Ben McGinty. He said that the biggest challenge for him is being back when everybody else has lost everything and it's a very like sobering thought, for sure.  But also, people said that the challenge was getting their shops remediated in a timely manner, they had to wait months for that to happen. I think some of them did it themselves and still need to get reimbursed by their insurance company. I guess some insurance companies were understanding. Some, just gave an attitude, like, "why are you asking?" It's like, "oh, I'm a policyholder. Like, why wouldn't I ask for this, for, you know, this to be paid out?"  Yeah, I think having the money to be able to reopen and rebuild, having a good landlord who would like not charge rent while you're not in the store and an insurance company to help with repairs. Those are all challenges.  Chris - So how are folks surviving, or is it? Are they getting grants? Are they getting help from the city? Are they getting community buyouts? What's going on?  Phoenix - Yes, there are a lot of grants. Fair Oaks Burger, it's kind of interesting. You know, Rick Caruso, the billionaire businessman, his foundation has issued a good amount of grants. Interesting to see his name in the mix there.  There are a lot of grants from corporations, different chambers of commerce. There are low interest loans, or no interest loans that people have been able to get another challenge is the red tape it takes to reopen in LA County. The owner of Fair Oaks Burger talked about that a lot, and she said that, if they make the process easier with a little less red tape. She thinks  more businesses will be able to come back more easily.  Chris - So where are we seeing real estate movement? You alluded to this a little bit.  Phoenix - Oh, yeah, I haven't looked at this in a lot of detail, but I've seen a lot of reports.A lot of the lots, I think it's several hundred residential lots that have a lot of people have  put their lots up for sale because they aren't able to rebuild.  That's a similar challenge. The insurance companies have not come through for people who lost their homes, which is really horrible to hear. So they're selling their lots. And a lot of corporate developers, LLCs, are buying up those lots. It remains to be seen what they're doing with them.  I saw a report where  one of them is being constructed right now, and it's kind of interesting. The home they're building is for sale for at least a million dollars, or something like that. I don't know how a lot of people can afford that. So, there are a lot of community groups who are really tracking that and are really trying to advocate for community land trusts and for community minded people to buy up these lots and to be able to sell or rent them to working class folks, just to preserve the diversity of Altadena, to let allow people to be able to come back.  I read last year, groups had asked for, maybe $500 million from the state, which they didn't get. I wouldn't be surprised if they're trying again. But so far, I think there hasn't been a lot of support from, you know, from the state to actually do something to preserve Altadena as it was and has been. Chris - Yeah, it sounds like an uphill struggle. So what should

In the SGV Connect's end-of-year podcast, Damien Newton and Felicia Friesema of Foothill Transit discuss transit updates in response to questions submitted by readers. The discussion addresses: The delayed implementation of Line 289/197 combination/extension due to ongoing student needs at Ganesha High School. Foothill Transit's hydrogen bus program is paused due to funding cuts, with a focus on low-emission CNG buses. The 295 college connector line...and more! A lovingly edited transcript of the podcast can be found below. SGV Connect is supported by Foothill Transit, offering car-free travel throughout the San Gabriel Valley with connections to the new A Line Stations across the Foothills and Commuter Express lines traveling into the heart of downtown L.A. To plan your trip, visit Foothill Transit. "Foothill Transit. Going Good Places."Sign-up for our SGV Connect Newsletter, coming to your inbox on Fridays!   SGV Connect Podcast: End-of-Year AMA with Foothill Transit Recorded December 15, 2025 Host: Damien Newton Guest: Felicia Friesema, Foothill Transit Damien Newton: Welcome to SGV Connect. This is our end-of-the-year podcast with Felicia Friesema of Foothill Transit. I think this is the third year we've done this, but only the second year in a row. According to Chris, that means I can now call it an annual tradition. As always, we asked readers for questions, they sent them in, and we're posing them to Felicia. As a disclaimer, none of the questions were especially controversial. Since we wanted this to be informational, we did provide the questions to Felicia on Friday so she could review them and give us the best possible answers. Also, I'll say upfront, we don't have any really fun questions this time, so we may try to come up with something fun toward the end, depending on how long we spend on the wonky stuff. Before we dive in, a reminder that SGV Connect is sponsored by Foothill Transit, offering car-free transit throughout the San Gabriel Valley, with connections to A Line stations along the Foothill Extension and service into Downtown Los Angeles. To plan your trip, visit foothilltransit.org. Foothill Transit — going good places. That ad copy has been the same since before this podcast was even called SGV Connect. If you ever want to change it, let me know. Felicia Friesema: I'm just ecstatic that this has become an annual thing. I really love these AMAs. They're fantastic. Damien Newton: They're fun and easy on my end, so I'm a big fan too. It looks like we have five questions this year. The first two came with mini-essays attached — written in the first person, but not by me. The first question is about the implementation of the Foothill Forward Line 197 and a proposed combination with Line 289. The reader writes: "I'm excited for the proposed Line 289/197 extension from La Verne to Cal Poly Pomona. It would allow for a weekend connection from the A Line to Cal Poly Pomona — the 295 is weekday only. When will it be implemented? Other Foothill Forward improvements have moved forward, but this one has been pending for years." Felicia Friesema: The proposed combination of Lines 289 and 197 would be a great idea. However, that routing would remove a segment of the current Line 197 that serves Ganesha High School, and we're not quite ready to do that yet. We've been working with Pomona Unified School District and monitoring ridership trends at Ganesha to understand ongoing student needs. Right now, our focus is on continuing to provide that service. The connection from Line 197 to the A Line remains in our plans. We're working with the City of La Verne, the Gold Line Authority, and LA Metro to make enhancements at the station so buses can serve it effectively. As for timing, it's still up in the air. There are no firm plans for 2026. We need to do more due diligence on student demand before moving forward. Damien Newton: I'll just note that the quality of the questions was excellent. The writer even included links — presumably for me — but honestly, they were more useful for you. I've saved their info in case Chris Greenspan ever moves on. Felicia Friesema: Bus riders and bus fans often know the system better than we do, and that's fantastic. Damien Newton: The next question builds off that theme and focuses on Foothill Transit's hydrogen bus program. The reader asks about the future of hydrogen fuel, especially given recent shifts toward battery-electric fleets statewide. Felicia Friesema: That's a great question, and it's one we get a lot. Foothill Transit has been an early adopter of hydrogen fuel-cell buses, and we've learned a tremendous amount from that experience. Hydrogen has worked well for us operationally, especially for longer routes where range and refueling time really matter. That said, the landscape is changing. Battery-electric technology continues to improve, and funding priorities at the state and federal level are evolving. We're keeping a close eye on that and making decisions based on reliability, cost, and what best serves our riders. We're also part of a larger hydrogen hub conversation in California, so this isn't something we're abandoning lightly. But like everything else, it has to pencil out long term. Damien Newton: That makes sense. And I think people sometimes forget that Foothill Transit has always been willing to pilot new technology, even when it's risky. The next question is about ridership, specifically college routes. A reader asks whether Foothill has seen changes in demand now that many campuses are fully back in person, but with hybrid schedules still common. Felicia Friesema: We're definitely seeing a rebound, but it's uneven. Some college routes are close to pre-pandemic levels, while others are still lagging. Hybrid schedules have changed travel patterns, and students aren't necessarily commuting five days a week anymore. We're responding by being more flexible — adjusting schedules, monitoring demand closely, and working directly with campuses. Programs like student transit passes remain a huge part of our strategy, and they've been very successful where implemented. Damien Newton: That leads nicely into the next question, which is about major events — specifically the 2028 Olympics. Someone asks whether Foothill Transit expects to play a role, especially given the geographic spread of venues. Felicia Friesema: We've had preliminary conversations, but it's still early. Large events like the Olympics require coordination at every level — Metro, municipal operators, law enforcement, and local governments. For Foothill Transit, the challenge is balancing special-event service with our core mission: serving daily riders who rely on us to get to work, school, and appointments. We don't want to overextend ourselves in a way that hurts regular service. Damien Newton: That's a good segue to the Rose Bowl, which always generates questions whenever there's a big event. Someone asks whether Foothill plans to expand service there. Felicia Friesema: The Rose Bowl is always tricky. It's not just about buses — it's about traffic control, street closures, and coordination with Pasadena and other agencies. We do provide service for certain events, but expanding that requires partners at the table and funding to match. Damien Newton: Before we wrap up, I want to ask a lighter question — something we've done in past years. Do you have a book or podcast recommendation for listeners? Felicia Friesema: I was hoping you'd ask that. I've been reading a lot more nonfiction lately, especially books about leadership and organizational change. One I'd recommend is Turn the Ship Around! It's about empowering teams and decision-making, and I think it applies really well to public agencies. Damien Newton: That's a great recommendation. I'll add it to my list. Before we close, is there anything coming up in 2026 that riders should be paying attention to? Felicia Friesema: We'll continue rolling out Foothill Forward improvements where funding allows, and we're staying focused on service reliability. Electrification will remain a big theme for us, whether that's hydrogen, battery-electric, or a mix of both. We're also continuing conversations with cities and Metro about bus-priority projects. Those don't always get a lot of attention, but they make a huge difference for riders. Damien Newton: I want to thank everyone who submitted questions. They were thoughtful and detailed, which makes these AMAs much easier to do. Felicia, thanks again for joining us and for being willing to do this year after year. Felicia Friesema: Thank you for having me. I really appreciate the opportunity to talk directly to riders and advocates. These conversations matter. Damien Newton: And thanks to Foothill Transit for sponsoring SGV Connect and making this podcast possible. As always, you can find more San Gabriel Valley transportation coverage at Streetsblog Los Angeles. We'll be back in the new year with more episodes. Felicia Friesema: Looking forward to it. Damien Newton: All right. Thanks, Felicia. Talk to you again soon. Felicia Friesema: Thanks, Damien. Bye. End of recording.  

In this special episode of SGV Connect, your hosts SBLA SGV Reporter Chris Greenspon and SBLA Editor Joe Linton take listeners on a tour of the newly opened Metro A Line (formerly Foothill Gold Line) extension. The trip begins at the new Glendora Station, where we walked to Finkbiner Park. From there, we go east to San Dimas for lunch at the cozy Rail Side Café. Then in La Verne, we take in Bonita Avenue's elaborate Halloween decorations. Try to see these for yourself before they're gone (photos below). The journey concludes in Pomona at the Pomona North, for now the end of the line, where commuter rail and light rail make for a key working-class transit hub. Along the way, we reflect on walkability, local character, and how to enjoy this side of the SGV without a car. Plus more recommendations in each town. A copy of the transcript is available below. SGV Connect is supported by Foothill Transit, offering car-free travel throughout the San Gabriel Valley with connections to the new Gold Line Stations across the Foothills and Commuter Express lines traveling into the heart of downtown L.A. To plan your trip, visit Foothill Transit. "Foothill Transit. Going Good Places."Sign-up for our SGV Connect Newsletter, coming to your inbox on Fridays! Chris Greenspon: Welcome to SGV Connect episode 143. I'm Chris Greenspon. Damien Newton has the day off for this episode because it's a special tour of the Metro A Line extension with our editor, Joe Linton, and me. We want to keep the spotlight on this new part of the light rail system in the 626. But first, a reminder that SGV Connect is supported by Foothill Transit, offering car-free travel throughout the San Gabriel Valley with connections to the new A Line stations across the foothills and commuter express lines traveling into the heart of downtown L.A. To plan your trip, visit foothilltransit.org. Foothill Transit—going good places. Now, of course, the Foothill A Line connects SGV residents in the foothills to Pasadena, downtown L.A., and Long Beach. But did you know you can also ride it east? To give you a feel for what you can get up to in the area, we took a ride on the train and got out at each stop to explore and talk about what there is to see and do. Joe Linton: My name is Joe Linton. I'm the editor of Streetsblog Los Angeles. I'm here with— Chris Greenspon: Chris Greenspon, reporter for the San Gabriel Valley region, SGV Connect. Joe Linton: We're here at the brand-new Glendora Metro A Line Station. It's one of four new stations. Today we're going to take a sampling tour of the four new stops on the A Line—the former Gold Line, or Foothill Gold Line as they called it—and see what you can walk to near the stations, what's interesting about each one, and get a sense of what you can expect when you ride the new train. Chris Greenspon: Glendora, of course, is known for The Donut Man with its seasonal strawberry and peach donuts. But there's also The Hat's classic pastrami and JPM Comics, all within a short bike ride of the train. We walked past downtown Glendora's charming gumdrop trees and historic houses to reach the real center of Glendora life—Finkbiner Park. It's a nice green space with volleyball, a skate park, pickleball courts, basketball, and a band shell. But remember, it's Finkbiner, not Finkbinder. Joe Linton: Okay, Finkbiner Park—it's not a hop, skip, and a jump from the Metro station, but it's what, a 15- or 20-minute walk? Not bad. There was probably a more direct route. It's one of those things with transit—I tell people, "Oh, I like this restaurant or this park," and it's not like I'd drive across town to get there, but because it's within a few blocks of a Metro stop, it's easy for me to go. It's easy to take my daughter there. It's not always the most incredible destination, but it's close and pleasant. Chris Greenspon: That was a big reason why I started reporting on the San Gabriel Valley in the first place—even before anyone was paying me—because it's nice that there are regular, local places to go, things to do, and people to see. It's not like going to Griffith Park where you'll see 400 tourists from Norway getting off a bus. You can actually have some breathing room here and hear yourself think. Speaking of journeys that aren't just about the destination, next we headed to San Dimas Station. Get off in San Dimas if you're looking for trails or a bigger regional park like Bonelli. Check out the Antonovich Trail leading into San Dimas Canyon and Cataract Falls—a great place to watch the sunset. This wilderness between freeways must have inspired the carved walking stick art back up at the Metro station. These wildlife pieces are great—I like the salamander back there and the skunk right here. Our stop included a one-block hike for lunch at Railside Café, right beside the San Dimas Metro Station, where we even had train-shaped breakfasts—just kidding. Joe Linton: It was yummy. I'm a sucker for muffins and gravy, whatever—it scratched a certain itch. Not something I should eat every day, but very good, and it's just a block south of the San Dimas Station. Chris Greenspon: Yeah, with ample patio seating. Moving on—with Halloween on the rise, we took to Old Town La Verne. Every October, the million-dollar homes on both sides of Old Town get decked out with awesome Halloween decorations. On All Hallows' Eve, Bonita Avenue is partially closed to vehicles, and trick-or-treating begins around 5:30 p.m. There are also some great restaurants there if you want something besides candy afterward. Joe Linton: This one's got stuffed animals, blood-splattered sheets, and a sign saying "Free Horror Show." It's been taped over and rewritten—it's kind of awesome. Chris Greenspon: Yeah, I don't even know what game this is supposed to be—maybe you're supposed to throw baseballs at dolls or something? Joe Linton: Creepy—not just dolls, but creepy dolls, like the kind that might inhabit your nightmares. Chris Greenspon: This is the pièce de résistance—the Jaws-themed house with five screaming sharks coming out of the grass. Joe Linton: Life-size—what, seven or eight feet tall? Sharks with mouths open, sharp teeth, severed limbs in the mouths. So how does it look at night? Chris Greenspon: It looks great at night. See our pictures at la.streetsblog.org on the post for this episode. And while you're there, click the link to read about the pedestrian bridge that the City of La Verne is building over Arrow Highway to connect the Metro station to the Fairplex. Now, back on the train. This is your Metro. Let's keep it clean. Chris Greenspon: Pomona is the end of the line for now. For that reason, it's by far the most-used of the new stations, and it has great art paying tribute to everyday Pomonans—but it feels like something's missing. Joe Linton: We're not in the heart of Pomona. The station is called North Pomona. Downtown Pomona has the museums, cafés, City Hall, good food, and music. Here, we're at the north end of town—more of an industrial rail corridor, not much housing or retail. Chris Greenspon: There is some newer, more upscale housing on this side—it's a quieter part of town. This is the part of Pomona that people tend to associate more with Claremont or La Verne. Joe Linton: Yeah. So Pomona North doesn't have a lot to walk to today. The city is building new housing along Garey Avenue, and there's more in the works. There's also an old depot building the city hopes to turn into a café or coffee shop. So there are efforts to activate the area, but there's not much open yet. Let's walk over to the Metrolink Pomona North Station, which is about 40 feet from the A Line platform. Chris Greenspon: This connection between light rail and commuter rail makes Pomona North decidedly the most working-class stop on the A Line extension. Joe Linton: It's on the San Bernardino Line, which runs about every half hour during the day on weekdays. You can get to San Bernardino—all the way to Redlands via another connection. There's not much to do right here, but it's a worthwhile connection. You can get to Claremont, Montclair, and points further east on the Metrolink train. Chris Greenspon: There's also a shuttle here that takes people to Cal Poly, so it's a great connector. Joe Linton: Yeah, it's an end-of-the-line commuter station with a lot of parking. The hope is to extend to Claremont and Montclair, but that'll take a while. This is the end of the line for now. Chris Greenspon: And that's our little tour of the new A Line stops and their surroundings. Hopefully it'll get extended to Claremont before too long, but in the meantime, you can bike there from Pomona North. Some system info: trains run from 5 a.m. to midnight, and fares are $1.75 with free transfers. During peak hours, trains run about every six minutes, a bit slower in between. That's all. I'm Chris Greenspon—thanks for listening to SGV Connect.  

This week's SGV Connect Podcast features a pair of interviews by Chris Greenspon with Baldwin Park City Councilmember Emanuel Estrada and Filmaker Nicola Pieper. Greenspon and Estrada discuss Baldwin Park's $266,000 relief fund for families affected by immigration raids, which offers rent and grocery assistance. Estrada emphasized long-term planning, grassroots action, and multi-county cooperation, noting that all council members have immigrant backgrounds. You can read a transcript of the interview here. In the second interview, Greenspon and Pieper discuss her short documentary All That She, a poetic portrait of 67 women from four continents, including many from the San Gabriel Valley. The film challenges stereotypes and celebrates cultural diversity and connection. A San Gabriel Valley resident for three years, Pieper says the project reflects the community's warmth and interwoven social fabric. The film will be available online next year. But for now you can check out a teaser for All That She here or read an edited copy of the interview here. SGV Connect is supported by Foothill Transit, offering car-free travel throughout the San Gabriel Valley with connections to the new Gold Line Stations across the Foothills and Commuter Express lines traveling into the heart of downtown L.A. To plan your trip, visit Foothill Transit. "Foothill Transit. Going Good Places."Sign-up for our SGV Connect Newsletter, coming to your inbox on Fridays!  

This week's SGV Connect features a pair of interviews by Damien Newton. Don't worry Chris fans, the next podcast has already been recorded and it has a pair conducted by Chris Greenspon. The first interview this week is with Felicial Friesema about the big changes that have occurred in September with Foothill Transit Coverage. Of course, the SGV's bus agency had to create new routes for the A-Line stations that opened in Glendora, San Dimas, La Verne, and Pomona; but the transit agency also opened a new bus line, Line 295, to serve Cal Poly Pomona and Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. Sac). A transcript of that interview can be found below the podcast embed. Our second interview is a rebroadcast of last week's StreetSmart podcast from Streetsblog California. The episode features Transform CA's Zack Deutsch-Gross and we break down the recently concluded legislative session. To listen to that episode by itself, or for a transcript of the interview, click here.   SGV Connect is supported by Foothill Transit, offering car-free travel throughout the San Gabriel Valley with connections to the new Gold Line Stations across the Foothills and Commuter Express lines traveling into the heart of downtown L.A. To plan your trip, visit Foothill Transit. "Foothill Transit. Going Good Places." Sign-up for our SGV Connect Newsletter, coming to your inbox on Fridays!       Damien We're here with Felicia Friesema from Foothill Transit. There have been a few big changes since the last time we talked—outside of the regular route adjustments—especially with the… I was going to say Gold Line. Am I allowed to say "Gold Line" here?  Felicia Friesema Not anymore, dude. It's the A Line. Damien When I'm with the Construction Authority, they still let me call it the Gold Line. Felicia Well, because "Gold Line" is still in their name. But yeah, it's the A Line now. Damien Fine. The new "A Line" stations opened, and you also launched a new bus route. Let's start there. What can you tell us about the 295? It opened last week. And while it serves a Gold Line—uh, A Line—station… I'm going to let people in on something Chris Greenspawn knows well: I mess this up in our ad copy at least once a month and we have to re-shoot it. Felicia (laughs) Damien So if you ever hear Chris say, "Why don't you read that ad copy, Damien?" It's usually because I've already messed it up. Anyway, you launched a new bus line serving an A Line station, but you opened it before the A Line station opened. Tell us about Route 295. Felicia Yes! Congratulations to us. I'm really happy about it. Line 295 is one of our shorter lines—it only serves three stops. It runs between San Dimas Station, Cal Poly Pomona at Temple, and the Mt. SAC Transit Center. Service is Monday through Friday, 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., with 20-minute intervals. We opened on the 15th to introduce people to the new line. We honestly didn't expect much ridership at first—and we were proved wrong very quickly. On the first day alone, we had over 200 rides. We weren't expecting that at all, which means we've got a lot of non–light rail-oriented riders on that line. Damien Just to be clear: you weren't expecting ridership on day one until the rail station opened, right? Felicia Correct—thank you for clarifying that, Damien. We weren't expecting ridership to really kick in until the A Line opened on the 19th. We started the service early to get a sense of traffic patterns, especially on Temple between Cal Poly and Mt. SAC. That area can get pretty hairy at certain times of day when school's in session. We wanted to see how the schedule would run. Little did we know it would become really useful to a lot of people right away. And then, of course, ridership picked up again when the Gold Line—see, I just did it— Damien (laughs) Felicia —when the A Line opened on Friday. Damien This line mostly serves the college campuses. You're expecting students, professors, and people accessing the campus from farther away. It's not quite a first-mile/last-mile connection—it's a bit longer than that—but it's both a rail connector and a local route now. Felicia Exactly. Cal Poly Pomona and Mt. SAC have long been commuter campuses. Cal Poly does have dorms, but a significant number of students drive or take transit from far away—some from downtown L.A., some from Fontana. Having a smooth, easy transit option is definitely a plus for them. Damien As my kids get older, we're starting to look at colleges for my son, who's a sophomore. We've heard: don't sleep on local schools. People undervalue them—especially if they're used to traveling for college. I live in West L.A. and have heard plenty about people commuting to Cal Poly Pomona. I'm not as familiar with Mt. SAC—my kids' interests don't line up with their specialties—but I've already noticed the rail connection. My kid (or I) would only have to transfer twice to get there by train instead of driving. Felicia Exactly. Damien The big transportation story in the San Gabriel Valley right now is the four new A Line stations that opened on Friday. Joe did a Streetsblog story about it. We're going to go out and ride it together soon. How does this impact what you do? It's not just providing connections to stations—you've probably got some bus lines that can be almost replaced by rail. I imagine it's a lot of work every time a new station opens. Felicia It is, but it's good work. When the A Line—then the Gold Line—first started opening in the San Gabriel Valley, we had one line across the Foothill corridor called the 187. We've since split that into the 187 and 188, with Azusa as the midpoint. We thought we'd lose significant ridership along that corridor when the A Line opened… And—see, I'm going back and forth, too. Damien Yeah, it's not easy. Felicia Gold Line for history's sake; A Line for now. Anyway, we found that while travel patterns changed, our ridership wasn't heavily impacted by the opening of the Gold/A Line. Splitting the 187 into two lines also improved schedule adherence. We learned some people needed to get into Pasadena and others into Claremont, so having a transfer in the middle made the line more efficient. We still watch the area very closely. That earlier experience became our blueprint for how service might be affected by these new stations. We're not anticipating major shifts, but we're keeping a close eye on it. We've also worked to get our service closer to the stations for first-mile/last-mile connectivity. For the most part, it's just another great way to make sure people are getting on transit. Damien There's a post on your website—we've been linking to it in the SGV Connect newsletter. It's literally foothilltransit.org/article/foothilltransit-and-metrorail. It shows all the connections to the various stations for people who want to access them. And your website always does a little extra—like highlighting local businesses around the stations. I always appreciate that. Felicia Yes. Damien So it's probably too early to see how 295 has been impacted by the station opening. Friday was a special day, then you had a weekend. We're recording this Monday the 22nd—the second weekday the line and station are both open. Any interesting early observations from the A Line stations and your transit service? Felicia Yes, actually. We're very excited about this and keeping track of where ridership is growing. Fridays are usually low ridership days—people take off early or make it a three-day weekend. But we had really solid ridership on the 295 out of San Dimas Station the first day the A Line was open. We expect that number to grow. We're partnering heavily with the schools and relying on a lot of word of mouth. We're also looking at how other lines are impacted. It's hard to tell exactly how much ridership is shifting because you can't always tell if a boarding is from the street or a transfer from the A Line. We're sending people out to make sure connections are smooth and to help riders with questions. These are still early days, but we're keeping close tabs. Damien I was talking to a friend over the weekend—he's in the industry—and he suggested I ask: Do you think these new stations will mean more overall ridership, or less on the bus lines? I always assumed people would ride the train instead of the bus. His hypothesis is that you'll more than make up for that with people who weren't riding transit at all but will now ride the train and need the bus for the last leg. Felicia I think in the short term, yes. With something like this, you have to take a long view. Our surveys consistently show: the more transit service is available and frequent, the more people ride—period. Any new transit service—more connectivity, more frequency, more access—is good for all transit. In the short term, there may be some shifts as travel patterns change. But long term, anything that makes transit more familiar, accessible, and easy to use is good across the board. Damien All right. Any closing thoughts, or anything I didn't ask that you think listeners should know? Felicia Just one thing about the La Verne Station. We've seen a lot of chatter about accessibility—specifically about having a stop closer to the station or buses going directly into the station. Unfortunately, they weren't able to make the adjustments needed for a proper bus turnaround. We were hoping they could. The Construction Authority is turning the project over to Metro, so it'll be in Metro's hands going forward. We'll partner with them to make it more accessible. For now, bus service will be across the street rather than directly in the station. Damien I did notice on the map that there's a new stop on the 197 significantly closer than the previous ones. Felicia Correct. Damien But the hope is you'll be able to go directly into the station in the medium-term future? Felicia Correct. We'll say the "hopeful" future. Damien Obviously it's not happening next month, but hopefully Metro can make that fix reasonably soo

In SGV Connect 138, Streetsblog talked to Benito Flores and others in the Reclaimers movement that were helping him resist eviction in the Caltrans owned property he was living in. The Reclaimers are a group of formerly unhoused people who moved into Caltrans-owned properties in 2020 to both put a roof over their heads during a public health crisis and draw attention to the amount of publicly owned housing that was not being lived in during a nationwide housing crisis. After losing several court cases, Flores and other reclaimers were given a choice: move out of their house and work with the homeless authority to get new housing or stay and risk forcible eviction. Flores chose to stay, and sadly passed away after falling from a treehouse he built as a hideaway when the sheriffs or state police came. In this episode, we interview two reclaimers who chose the first option: leaving their reclaimed homes and working with HACLA. The interview takes place in Councilwoman Jurado's El Sereno office with Marta Escudero and Cecilia Lopez, members of the Reclaimers movement. In 2020, during the COVID-19 lockdown, they occupied vacant Caltrans-owned homes in El Sereno, inspired by the Moms for Housing movement. Both describe how displacement and the housing crisis pushed them to act, with support from groups like ACE, Eastside Café, and HACLA. Initially granted two-year leases, Marta and Cecilia later faced eviction efforts and legal battles. Marta negotiated with HACLA to secure Section 8 housing in Boyle Heights, where she now lives with her daughters. She emphasizes the importance of staying in her community for family support and schooling needs. Cecilia, however, remains unhoused, still couch-surfing despite promises of permanent housing, and expresses frustration with HACLA's delays and broken commitments. For Streetsblog's complete five-year coverage for the Reclaimer movement, click here. A transcript of the interview is available below. SGV Connect is supported by Foothill Transit, offering car-free travel throughout the San Gabriel Valley with connections to the new Gold Line Stations across the Foothills and Commuter Express lines traveling into the heart of downtown L.A. To plan your trip, visit Foothill Transit. "Foothill Transit. Going Good Places." Sign-up for our SGV Connect Newsletter, coming to your inbox on Fridays! Marta - Hello. My name is Marta Escudero. Cecilia - Hello. My name is Cecilia Lopez. Damien - ...and I'm Damian Newton. Nice to meet you. We should have done that when we got here instead of waiting for the recording. Anyway, we're in the El Sereno office of Councilwoman Jurado, and we're talking today with two of the Reclaimers. This is mostly for me when I'm listening to it five years from now, going, "Wait, what? It was in the office?"  So let's start the interview how we've started most of the interviews by just sort of recapping the beginning for anyone that's listening for the first time, because and for anyone that's listened before. I always think this is such a dramatic and unique story. It's always worth repeating in the words of the people that lived it. So why don't we just start with what a Reclaimer is and what happened in 2020 Marta - So at least for my side of the story, because there's multiple sides, I found out that ACE and LACLA, LATU, DSA were meeting months before. Well, during that time, I was couch surfing with my daughters, and I was falling into despair because there was no housing. And then I saw Moms for Housing on the TV, and I wanted to do something similar, inspired by these black moms that took housing up north, and so I started reaching out to people and letting people know what I wanted to do. And my friend Colleen, which she's amazing, she's the one that, like, really motivated me to do this.  She gave me the contact for Amy Scherer from ACE, and that's when I found out they had been planning this for a while. And then at the same time, Angela from Eastside Cafe put something on Facebook, and I reached out to her, and then they linked together. At that same time, Ruby Gordillo was doing canvassing of empty houses through ACE, and found these houses in El Sereno as well. So it was just all kind of meshed together. And we began planning, I believe in December I joined and we began planning more thoroughly, like in January, and then covid hit, and it was right in the lockdown.  We were even thinking, "Should we do it? Should we wait?" And then we said, "let's just do it." And it was right. It was just pure luck. It was right on the weekend of the lockdown. And so everything was in chaos, and the governor just let us slide. I think if it wasn't for that, I believe if it wasn't for that, we probably would have been taken out. Cecilia - Definitely... all hog tied. Damien - So with the support of all these groups, the two of you moved in separately to different houses in El Sereno, both in El Sereno, because I know there were other places that ... okay... both in El Sereno. You moved into houses during the first weekend of the lockdown. I don't think I ever put that together in my head that it was, Cecilia - It was March 14, I believe. Damien - Yeah, yeah. So you moved in. I know there was some, some action to try and get you out, but the governor's office actually stepped in and said, you know, let them stay. There's a crisis, and… Cecilia - We had sent letters first, because we were having a rough time in the beginning with CHP. Damien - That'd be the Highway Patrol, because these were Caltrans owned properties. Caltrans owned these properties because they were in the right of way of a freeway expansion that they wanted to do the 710, which was canceled in 2017, or 18, I believe. And then they still own the properties, although they're starting to divest the ones in Pasadena, I know they're being - and South Pasadena - those are being turned into the properties are, I believe, being demolished and turned into affordable housing, but the people that moved into them are not they may have an option to rent into the affordable housing, but there's no homeowner option that had been discussed when Caltrans bought these houses, like way back in the 70s. The 1970s. Okay, so the originally you were given one year leases, if I remember correctly, Marta - two-year leases. Damien - And so you stayed in there, then through 2022, and then there were legal efforts to evict and not evict, and tenants rights were claimed, and all that stuff went to court. Right? Marta - Yes, because we were given a two-year lease and the HACLA was not providing the housing we needed and were asking for, because people have individual needs, I especially requested to be geographically close, because I'm a single mother and I have all my support system here, plus my daughters, go to special schools.  They're unique. There's people from Santa Monica, from South LA. They go to these schools from the valley, because they're so unique that I can't find them anywhere else, and I didn't want to have to go through that commute. It's exhausting, and so I really fought for that to be included in HACLA. They think that anywhere is okay, and I don't agree with that. I feel that people have unique needs, and housing should provide that for us as well. Cecilia - I feel the same way, except I don't have kids, but my roots are here. I was born here, and so that's all I know. I am used to the area. I'm comfortable being here, and I feel safe here. Damien - So the legal actions around that I know went on for a couple years with eviction efforts, efforts to oppose in court, as I understand it, the legal efforts were sort of exhausted sometime in 2024. One of the reasons we're doing this interview is we did the one with Benito and Roberto a couple months ago. Benito, when offered something after the court cases expired, chose to stay in his house and fight eviction. Other people made different decisions when HACLA made offers to them for housing. So I guess I'm get both of you, I'm assuming, took the HACLA offer -- Cecilia -- but I think we're bypassing a place here because the first two years we were living in the house that we began... Damien - The reclaimed house? Cecilia - Right and then during that time, after the two years, we were asked to move because the houses supposedly needed to be inspected. And then were given another lease for another two years into the new home, which was still in the Caltrans homes. Damien - So you moved from one home to a different one. It's still that Caltrans owns properties in 2022ish. Cecilia - But that was only because they needed us to sign the lease, the agreement that none of us were really happy about, but we really didn't have a choice to not sign. Damien - Okay. So the original two years, and then there was another two years in a different house. And so it was when that expired. And the legal options were out. And then HACLA came to you guys with a new offer, which I'm guessing, since we're here, you both took, could you describe sort of what that offer was like? You know, when we talked to Benito, he was not happy with the offer, but it was for, I believe, four years. A four year lease? Marta - We all had different-- Damien - Okay, everyone was offered a different lease Marta - Based on our circumstances. Cecilia - I think they offered him four years to live in a hotel, and he was not happy about that. Mart -  I wouldn't have taken that deal either, but I do think there was room for negotiation, because that's what I did with HACLA. I was offered some housing at first, and I said, No. I kept saying, No, this is what I want, and you need to look for this. And I also sought outside support so I could push what I wanted, and I got something fairly good in the end.  The  eviction process is horrible, and I already knew I wasn't gonna win legally. We didn't get these houses legally in the first place,  we weren't gonna get them through the legal system. I already had that

Episode 139 of SGV Connect focuses on the impact of ongoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids on the communities in the San Gabriel Valley. Both interviews were conducted by Chris Greenspon.  The first is with Estrella, a resident of El Monte who witnesses the crushing impact of the ongoing threat of ICE raids in her community. The second is with Assemblymember Mike Fong, who highlights not just what the communities he represents are experiencing, but some ways in which the state is fighting back. Estrella reports that while the community is beginning to show signs of life again, things will never be the same. Families are struggling to make rent as economic activity has slowed even for those who are still working. Others are sheltering to avoid ICE. Even the school district has seen a drop in attendance as the arbitrary nature of the raids has caused widespread fear. A lightly edited transcript of the conversation can be found here. Fong also discussed the impact of recent ICE raids in the San Gabriel Valley, highlighting incidents in Alhambra and Rosemead. He emphasized the trauma and fear affecting all immigrant communities, especially the Latino population. Fong discussed some of the state legislation aimed at improving the situation, including his own legislation to support undocumented students. He also praised legislative efforts like SB 805 and SB 627 to ensure law enforcement transparency. Fong underscored the importance of community support, citing a local food distribution initiative, and outlined his legislative goals for expanding college access and affordable housing. A lightly edited transcript of the conversation can be found here SGV Connect would like to take a moment to wish the friends and family of Benito Flores peace and comfort after his passing.  

This week's SGV Connect reconnects with the Reclaimers (full coverage), the group of formerly homeless people that moved into Caltrans-owned houses at the start of the pandemic without the agency's permission. Over the past five years, the Reclaimers have been on a legal odyssey that's involved not just Caltrans and the three cities where the transportation agency owned houses in the right of way for a now cancelled freeway extension, but also the California Highway Patrol, and even the Governor's Office. This interview focuses mostly on the story of Benito Flores, a 76-year old handyman still residing at a Caltrans owned home in El Sereno. Flores has resisted eviction, and plans to stay in the house until he is forcibly removed. When the Sheriffs eventually arrive to remove him, he plans on escaping to a treehouse he has built on the property. He hopes his action continues to draw attention to how the housing system continues to work against people of lesser means and promotes a rent strike he hopes will materialize in December of 2026. Flores claims that the Housing Authority for the City of Los Angeles has lied about him in court filings when they stated that he refused permanent supportive housing. At Flores' request, we asked HACLA to comment on this. Their full comment is below, right before the audio from the podcast. Statement from HACLA: For the past five years, The Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) has managed the El Sereno Temporary Housing Program under a lease with Caltrans, providing essential resources including utilities, case management, housing navigation placement support and financial subsidies to over 44 households and close to 150 individuals, including Mr. Benito Flores. This program has helped over 90% of our families find permanent housing, with more placements underway. We understand that for Mr. Flores, this is not just about a house but a home, which is why he has been provided with the fullest array of services and housing search assistance including referrals to multiple permanent affordable housing sites as well as access to an emergency housing voucher, which unfortunately, he refused.  HACLA offered several housing referrals, including some deeply affordable options, including senior housing and permanent supportive housing. During the pandemic, HACLA offered Mr. Flores an emergency housing voucher which could be used in the private market to expand his housing options. Additionally, People Assisting the Homeless (PATH) attempted to complete applications on Mr. Flores' behalf so he could be prioritized in the Coordinated Entry System for placement into permanent supportive housing. Regarding documentation, it is our general policy not to release private information about our program participants and we have confirmed with PATH that we cannot release any of Mr. Flores' case notes. SGV Connect is supported by Foothill Transit, offering car-free travel throughout the San Gabriel Valley with connections to the new Gold Line Stations across the Foothills and Commuter Express lines traveling into the heart of downtown L.A. To plan your trip, visit Foothill Transit. "Foothill Transit. Going Good Places." Sign-up for our SGV Connect Newsletter, coming to your inbox on Fridays!    

Episode 137 of the SGVConnect Podcast is part two of our Olympics preview and focuses on the upcoming Olympic cricket tournament coming to the Pomona Fairplex.   In the first interview, Streetsblog editor Joe Linton interviews Pomona Mayor Tim Sandoval. The far-reaching interview covers other topics, including Pomona's response to the actions of President Trump's para-military bounty hunters and the arrival of the GOLD LINE, but returns to a friendly discussion of the Olympics. Included is a challenge for the Streetsblog. You can read a full transcript of the interview here.   In the second interview, Chris Greenspon talks with Abhimanyu Rajp, Director of Los Angeles Cricket and co-owner of the minor league team the Los Angeles Lashings. Rajip shares his enthusiasm for cricket, talks about what it means for the local cricket community to have it return to the Olympics in Pomona, and explains the rules of the variation of cricket that will be played here.   If you're a visual learner, you can get another explanation of the rules in this video. A transcript of the interview with Rajp can be found here. The audio of the podcast can be found below the video.      

This week kicks off a multi-episode mini-series at SGV Connect focusing on the LA 2028 Olumpoc games and what the events can mean for San Gabriel Valley Communities. This first episode features an interview with Alissa Walker, co-host of the LA Pod and editor of the Torched Newsletter. When not hanging out with celebrities and appearing on Netflix specials, Walker has become the go-to source of information about the upcoming games. The 2028 games will feature four venues in the San Gabriel Valley. Pasadena will host the soccer finals at the Rose Bowl, the Santa Anita Racetrack will host equestrian and dressage, the Pomona Fairgrounds will host the cricket tournament, and shotgun events will be held at the Shotgun Center in El Monte. Walker reports that San Gabriel cities are well positioned to host these attractions, as the venues all host major events (outside of the Shotgun Center) and know how to do so without causing headaches for neighboring communities. She is also excited for the possibilities that could occur with cities hosting official and unofficial events to bolster their profile and their coffers. It also allows for city and regional officials to think about creative ways to use the games to improve their transportation options in the short- and long-term.   Transcript: Damien Newton - As mentioned in the pre show, I'm recording with podcast royalty today. Alissa Walker - Who is it? Who's gonna be on? Oh, me. Damien -  , the LA Pod is the only podcast that I download and listen to when I run. Alissa - So you listen to it more than me. Damien - I almost never listen to this podcast unless it's one that Chris is doing completely on his own. So I understand what you're saying there. Alissa - It's not that I don't want to listen to it. It's just,  , I've already listened to it. Damien - I relate. No, it's a great podcast. I was saying to you before we started recording that I ran into your co host in the grocery store this morning, and he referred to you as a unicorn. Because you're so much on top of things that when you guys are sending story ideas back and forth, he never finds an article on the story before you do.  Alissa - Oh, I don't know if that's true. You're talking about Mike Bonin, my cohost, because I think Mike is actually pretty good at that stuff too, though.  Damien - Yeah, he's pretty on top of things. When he was my city council member, both as a reporter and as a constituent, I never found him unprepared for a question, even if we were trying to catch him off guard at a neighborhood meeting. Alissa - Ohhhh, you were out there yelling at him about bike bike lanes. You were yelling. Well, that's what I said to him on the most recent podcast that I felt like he did in 2010 when I went on the John Mulaney show, having people yelling at me about bike lanes. I was like, now I finally understand what it feels like, Mike. Damien - Yeah, that was wild. They put me on the neighborhood council after they approved that project. So I got in. Everyone that Googled me knew who I was, so I just got to listen to people screaming at me about that. And honestly, I had had no input at all on it. Joe was the Streetsblog editor. I had nothing to do with it.  Moving on,we're talking about the Olympics, because in addition to being the podcast royalty, you're also the editor and writer of Torched, a subscription newsletter that's covering the Olympics and Los Angeles. It is a must read. Torched is where we go if we need to find something out about the Olympics, which is why we're here today, because the Olympics are theoretically and hopefully coming in 2028. Alissa - Yeah, what will they be like now? We're not sure, Damien - Right? It's been a long time. It feels like it's been at least four or five decades since it was approved, two or three years ago. Alissa - More than that. It's been a while, 2017, that's a long time. And think of what, think of what Paris accomplished in that time compared to us.  Damien - Oh, that's a hint. I think about the tone of this podcast.  Some San Gabriel Valley cities are in line to host Olympic events. Some have been announced. Some are, quote, unquote, in the works. Having done some writing that I do for Santa Monica Next, I know that it's not necessarily a slam dunk for a city to host an Olympic Games, just be a smaller part of the game.  So we wanted to talk a little bit about what these cities can be looking forward to, what they might want to be considering on their own, and all sorts of other various issues. If there's any breaking news, you would probably know it ahead of me. That being said, that usually takes us four or five days to get a podcast up, so it probably won't be breaking anymore. But anyway, that's the longest intro we've ever done. Welcome Alissa. Alissa - Thank you so much. I'm so glad to be here.  Damien - So let's start talking. Last I checked there were two or three San Gabriel Valley cities that were hosting events, shooting and horse events. What can you tell us about what's going on with the San Gabriel Valley and the Olympics? Alissa - Yeah, and you missed one: cricket. Well, I mean, does the Pasadena Rose Bowl also count as San Gabriel Valley? Damien - I mean, it's in... We always debate this, because geographically it is, but Chris always argues that it's culturally a very different city than the rest of the SGV.  Alissa - All right. Well, you can, you can try to lump it in, maybe if needed.  Most people know about the Rose Bowl. The Rose Bowl is going to be used as soccer finals. And it's going to be the third time that the Rose Bowl has hosted Olympics events. They hosted events in all three Olympics, which is kind of cool, but the bigger announcements are definitely this last batch of announcements.  The LA 28 did them in phased delivery. First, we got the big Oklahoma City events. Some things are going there.  And then we got kind of a revised version of a few more events. And then this last dump was the rest of the venues, including, I believe, all three announcements that you just talked about. So the ones for your listeners to track will be equestrian events at Santa Anita, cricket at the Fairplex and shotgun shooting in Whittier Narrows.  It's not just about the venues that are being officially hosted by LA 28 as I'm sure  , there's all these plans for, like fan festivals and viewing parties and cultural events. There's a whole Cultural Olympiad that goes on top of everything else, plus all the Paralympic events as well. None of those venues have been announced officially.  For example, Pico Rivera has already voted to have a fan festival in their city, just as part of what's going on. Because as you're moving from one venue to another, you might want to stop in Pico Rivera and have a drink or watch whatever sport is on the big screen. So there's going to be a lot more stuff happening. These are just the latest, like official announcements. Damien - One of the things that we covered with Santa Monica was that the Olympics have sort of a contract they sign with the cities that are doing these events that outline a lot of what you can and can't do. And obviously, Santa Monica is in a different situation, because they're already a tourist hub, and they're so close to LA. They're doing things like planning bus routes to get people from the hotels…but they said no to beach volleyball, so that they didn't have to abide by all the Olympics rules, thinking that they would get a better deal otherwise.  Is this something that smaller cities in the San Gabriel Valley that maybe don't have a large beach right next to them, maybe aren't considered as touristy as Santa Monica should be, should be thinking about? With all the rules they're going to have to follo worth it or is it just having an event going to be good enough to make this a financially good decision for a smaller city? Alissa - The thing about beach volleyball is it can be played anywhere. In Paris, they played it just in front of the Eiffel Tower, if you remember. The matches weren't anywhere near a beach. It wasn't even done by the Seine. You really could have put it anywhere.  The thing about Santa Monica's specific situation is they hired a firm to do this economic analysis of how they would benefit from the games or if they decided not to host anything. And I think the conclusion they came away with was that it was probably going to be a better deal for them for many reasons. They might have had to close the pier for the entire summer, or a large part of the summer to the public. It just didn't make sense for them. They could make more money by just being Santa Monica for the summer and then hosting some of these other little interventions that I was talking about.  A really big opportunity for them are these things called hospitality houses. In Paris, there were like 30 of them all over the city.  Every country that's bringing athletes there would set up in some kind of public or private building and have these viewing parties or VIP events. But a lot of stuff that was open to the public and you could go hang out.  So they've been approached by a lot of countries to host those. So if you've got a few hospitality houses, and you have your own viewing stuff on the pier and then on the beach…you're pretty much set.  But most of the deals that you're talking about signing are not public. You haven't been able to really go through them. Long Beach's, for example, is online. It's public. You can look at it and it describes this thing called "Clean Zones," a square mile around every venue.  That means you're delivering like a blank slate: there's no advertising, there's no signage. There's very specific rules about trash pickup, and all these other things that have to happen. No street vendors, it seems like. You are making a big trade off when you make a deal with LA 28.  But for a place like Long Beach who really wants to be put on the map through this and has, to their credit, do

Last week, Chris visited the mutual aid group Memories of El Monte's bi-weekly food distribution at the Klingerman Apartment projects in South El Monte to interview group members and get an update on the construction of their physical location, The People's Cafe.   The regular food distribution gives the community the opportunity to receive $200 worth of groceries for $5, according to Memories of El Monte. For those interested in receiving groceries or volunteering with set-up and tear-down, the distributions take place on the second and fourth Thursday of each month, with ticketing at 8am and distribution at 10am. The drives are held behind the meat market at 2313 Mt. View Road, just off Peck Road, adjacent to the Klingerman Apartments.   Click on this link to read transcripts of the interviews with Georgina Flores, Carlos Ortega, Cassandra Flores, and Aron Montenegro.   (Note: this week's SGV Connect podcast is being broken into two parts. Part 1 with Habib Balian can be found here.)    

(Note: this week's SGV Connect podcast is being broken into two parts. Part 2, which is a series of interview about The People's Cafe in El Monte, will be broadcast tomorrow.) Last week, news broke that bids for the next extension of the Foothill Gold Line - from Pomona to Montclair - would be delayed because the only bid to design and build the project was hundreds of millions of dollars higher than anticipated. Earlier today, Damien Newton sat down with Gold Line Foothill Construction Authority CEO Habib Balian to discuss the causes of the delay and how it impacts the timeline of providing rail service to Montclair. Meanwhile, major construction on the extension from Glendora to Pomona wrapped up earlier this year. Bialin anticipates that Metro will announce next month the exact date that extension of the Gold Line will open to the public - probably sometime later this summer. During the podcast, Bialin uses the terms "design build" and "construction manager at risk" to discuss the different processes that agencies and contractors can use when making agreements on how a project will proceed and who carries which liabilities. For those interested, the links on the terms above explain what those processes are. A transcript of this podcast is available after the embed of the broadcast.   Streetsblog's San Gabriel Valley coverage is supported by Foothill Transit, offering car-free travel throughout the San Gabriel Valley with connections to the A Line Stations across the Foothills and Commuter Express lines traveling into the heart of downtown L.A. To plan your trip, visit Foothill Transit. "Foothill Transit. Going Good Places. Sign-up for our SGV Connect Newsletter, coming to your inbox on Fridays, and catch past episodes of SGV Connect and #DamienTalks on LibSyn, iTunes, or Overcast. Transcript: This transcript is lightly edited for clarity. Damien NewtonSince the last time we've checked in, there's been a lot of good news, and then last week we had a little bit of concerning news. So let's get the "bad stuff" out of the way, and then we can talk about where we are with the project going forward. Last week, we heard that the next phase of the extension -not the one where the construction is completed, but the next phase - is going to be delayed at least a little bit because bids did not come in as low as hoped. Can you explain what happened there and what the next steps are for the Construction Authority? Habib Balian Over the last three years, in preparation to go out to bid for the next phase of the project from Pomona to Montclair, we did our own independent cost estimate. We brought in outside estimators - people that are very well known in the industry - to look at the project, look at our design, look at the specifications, and help us foresee what a potential bidder might bid on the job. We went about this process, as any owner would, whether you're building a billion dollar light rail or remodeling the bathroom of putting some feelers out there what you think the job is going to cost. We went after it three times over the last three years. We even had Metro look over our shoulder and look at our estimates to come up with a validation of that number. And we rounded out with these estimators and Metro of a range of bids of what we thought the project was going to cost. We then started this procurement. We got some feedback during the procurement that our process to build the project using "design build" was not favorably received by the industry anymore. They don't want to take on that risk. We, as the owners, want to shove that risk off on the contractors. And that's worked very well for us over the last 20 years and the three phases of the project using design-build. But that model was getting some resistance in the building community. We also understood that a lot of potential bidders for the job would not be interested in competing with Kiewit (who had been the incumbent contractor for three consecutive projects that we built on the job from Union Station to Pasadena, Pasadena to Azusa/Glendora, and then the Azusa/Glendora border all the way to Pomona). Bidders were saying, 'Kiewit, seems to know the job so well, we may not be interested in bidding a job and competing with them, since they know it so well and probably could outbid us or underbid us.' So we were very nervous about this. Going into it, we took what we thought were very conservative precautions. We did a lot of outreach to the contracting community. We hosted these forums available for people to ask questions. And we also incentivized potential bidders with $9 million worth of recuperance of the potential bid that any work that they put into it - the design that went into this, the cost of them bidding the job, they would, as a course of a participant, be able to receive a four, three and $2 million payment for the work that they perform. Any design that they had done in furtherance of a bid that they would be able to give that to us, we would buy it from them, essentially based on their submitting a good bid that was responsive to the procurement. So even with all those incentives, Bid Day rolled around and, going into it, we knew we were only gonna have one participant. Which made us very nervous that there would be no other bids coming in. We knew that through the RFP process, and basically held our breath for a couple months until the bid came in. The bid came in, it was substantially higher than we expected, I believe, 54% higher than what our estimators and Metro thought the project would cost. We talked to them, went through a best and final offer and were not able to reach... achieve any substantial reduction in it. Then I took it to the board with the recommendation that we cancel that procurement and instead go out and re-procure through a different contracting method - CMAR (construction manager at risk, as it's known in the industry) - and proceed ahead with the project. It will be a bit of a delay, but it is a plan to get the project built, which is our mandate: to Montclair. We are starting in earnest with that procurement. It'll likely be on the street in June, and we'll be able to hire that designer and then bring on a construction management firm as well, and begin that process. And in furtherance of completing the project, with probably about a year delay we're expecting. Damien So with the year delay, could you outline what the rough timeline looks like now, to get that phase? Habib So we'll go through a procurement process beginning in June, probably June to September or October. We're nailing down the schedule right now, we will go and we'll seek a designer. That designer will engage them. That designer will complete the design, take it from our 20-30% complete and to a complete design. About midpoint of that we will start a procurement for construction manager. That construction manager will look over the shoulder and work with the designer to prepare a bid and confirm that they can build the project for our budget. So that will take about two years from now, and then that'll be a 'thumbs up or thumbs down' with that design, with that builder. If it's within our budget, we'll award the contract to them. And then from that point, it's about a four-year construction project. So roughly, 2030-31. Just as a footnote, should that builder that we bring on - the construction manager - say, 'we need more money,' or 'it's an inadequate budget,' we then have the ability of going out and soliciting a new builder for that project and hiring them and going out for construction based on a new bid. DamienSo it sounds like a lot's going on, but the plan is still to move forward and to keep going. HabibAbsolutely. The mandate of the legislature...back in 2000 they determined that the project would go from Union Station to Montclair. Just so, you know, originally [it] was supposed to only go to Claremont, and then it was later amended by the legislature to take it from Claremont to Montclair. That is our mandate. It's very important for this project to work at its maximum. And that requires it get to these hubs. And the nearest hub for this project is, in fact, getting to Montclair - to the Montclair Transit Center, the bus center. It's very important for ridership and for moving people from the Inland Empire into LA County along the Gold Line route from Montclair. DamienAlright, so that covers last week's news. But since the last time we've talked, there was some good news involving construction of the current extension, so to speak. So why don't we talk a little bit about where we are in that process, which I believe is mostly done. HabibThat's correct: mostly done. We achieved substantial completion by the contractor in early January, satisfied with their work. It was turned over to Metro for them to begin their preparations for operation. They'll start, doing their own testing and training of operators for over the next several months, with the anticipation that they will put it into service some time this summer. Metro - once they get underway with their testing fully - they'll be able to determine, probably in the May period, when they're going to announce a operations date with exactly when they're going to operate it some time this summer. DamienI said "mostly" I know your part is mostly done. It's "Metro's part" now that is still worked on. I just wanted to make it clear that when we said completed, it doesn't mean it's opening tomorrow. It's opening in probably July or August, if things go well. Habib That's correct. And just footnote to that is keyword is "still on the job." There's a long list of punch-list items that they're completing, some landscaping, some wall improvements, fare gates, something that's been a design change. Metro has come up with different fare gates system that is being retrofitted in. Our design originally didn't have them. Now it does, a

The Eaton Fire has left a tremendous scar on Southern California's culture and politics for the foreseeable future. Thankfully, it's stopped advancing for some time now, but the statistics are still top of mind: 17 dead, 14,000+ acres burned, 9,000+ structures destroyed, 1,000+ structures damaged.   During the early weeks of the fire, social media was a frenzy of good and bad information on destruction and safety, spite directed at elected officials, renewed revelation about the exploitation of incarcerated firefighters, and finger pointing over the funding and capabilities of Los Angeles City and County first responders.   There have also been scenes of hope, though. Ordinary people have stepped up to bring mutual aid to neighbors, including those who've lost everything.  From food, to clothing, shelter, donations, and DIY air filters – L.A. residents have thrown their arms around the survivors, and many have found a greater purpose in doing so.   This week on SGV Connect, we look at how these actions have changed public perceptions of our collective responsibility and power.   In part one of our episode, we'll get an overview from L.A. Public Press Mutual Aid reporter Phoenix Tso, who covered distributions for both those directly displaced in Altadena, as well as unhoused people affected by poor air quality. A transcript of the interview can be found here.   Then in part two, we'll listen to how north Pasadena journalist and resident Tamika Adams-Furniss went from fleeing in a terrifying evacuation to spearheading deliveries of home made air filters to her neighbors. A transcript of her interview is available here.   If hearing about these life-changing experiences inspires you to help those affected by the Eaton Fire, but you don't know where to begin, check out these databases of displaced families's fundraisers, and organizations distributing donations and supplies.   Streetsblog's San Gabriel Valley coverage is supported by Foothill Transit, offering car-free travel throughout the San Gabriel Valley with connections to the A Line Stations across the Foothills and Commuter Express lines traveling into the heart of downtown L.A. To plan your trip, visit Foothill Transit. "Foothill Transit. Going Good Places."Sign-up for our SGV Connect Newsletter, coming to your inbox on Fridays!

Ok, I'll admit it. I'm using this week's SGV Connect to encourage listeners to start listening to my other podcast, StreetSmart which appears at Streetsblog California. This week's SGV Connect features clips from three different StreetSmart interviews. The first is with Jeanie Ward-Waller where we de-mystify the California Transportation Commission. A little-heard-of board that approves billions of dollars of state transportation funds every year. In this clip, we discuss why it's important to have progressives and activists in some of the voting board positions. For the full podcast, and transcript, click here. Our second interview is with a UCLA researcher who literally may have forgotten more about transportation than I'll ever know, Juan Matute. In this podcast, we discuss the state of transit funding as the state continues its economic recovery from COVID and loses a funding partner for its most ambitious projects. In this clip, Matute pushes expansion of Bus Rapid Transit, as a way the state can spend smarter. For the full podcast, and transcript, click here. The third clip is from an interview that we haven't published anywhere else yet, it'll debut on Streetsblog California next Tuesday. In this one, I'm interviewing both Adriana Rizzo of Californians for Electric Rail and Roger Rudick, the editor of Streetsblog San Francisco, about the status of High-Speed rail in the state. In this clip, we're talking about how the project is shaped as a loser in the press, but never actually loses at the ballot box. For the full podcast and transcript, you'll have to wait until next Tuesday. Meanwhile, Chris is working on a podcast featuring stories from the wildfires that raged last month. Stay tuned. SGV Connect is supported by Foothill Transit, offering car-free travel throughout the San Gabriel Valley with connections to the new Gold Line Stations across the Foothills and Commuter Express lines traveling into the heart of downtown L.A. To plan your trip, visit Foothill Transit. "Foothill Transit. Going Good Places." Sign-up for our SGV Connect Newsletter, coming to your inbox on Fridays!

Foothill Transit's Director of Marketing and Communications joins Streetsblog Editor Damien Newton for an ask-me-anything style interview probing the bus agency's recent trials and successes. Friesema took questions on: how Foothill's bolstered services to Mt. San Antonio College and Cal Poly Pomona will connect with soon to open Metro A Line service in the San Gabriel Valley Foothills, the agency's hopes for a bus rapid transit service contract in the 60 Freeway corridor, what level of challenge is still faced after the initial stage of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the agency's move towards hydrogen fuel cell technology since its battery electric vendor Proterra went bankrupt. Plus, as a bonus we heard about Friesema's favorite local mystery writer, Naomi Hirahara, whose novels are set in the SGV, Chinatown, Japantown, and Manzanar to name a few.  You can read a transcript of the conversation here, or listen to the podcast below. Streetsblog's San Gabriel Valley coverage is supported by Foothill Transit, offering car-free travel throughout the San Gabriel Valley with connections to the A Line Stations across the Foothills and Commuter Express lines traveling into the heart of downtown L.A. To plan your trip, visit Foothill Transit. "Foothill Transit. Going Good Places."Sign-up for our SGV Connect Newsletter, coming to your inbox on Fridays! Sign-up for our SGV Connect Newsletter, coming to your inbox on Fridays, and catch past episodes of SGV Connect and #DamienTalks on LibSyn, iTunes, Google Play, or Overcast.

The post-election special featured a pair of Streetsblog editors, Joe Linton of Streetsblog L.A. and Melanie Curry of Streetsblog California, joining Damien Newton and Chris Greenspon. Most of the talking was done by Curry, Linton and Newton, and the trio kicked off the discussion by outlining the impact of the Trump administration on federal transportation funding, particularly high-speed rail and public transportation. In a new administration, California will face challenges securing federal funding. In LA County, some important county measures including the "climate bond," Measure A for maintaining the county's homeless services and Measure G which will expand the Board of Supervisors and create a county executive position.  In LA City, progressive Isabel Jurado won over Kevin de Leon, potentially improving transportation and livability. Local elections in the San Gabriel Valley saw Sasha Renée Pérez elected to the State Senate and Nan Wong to the Alhambra City Council. Find yourself wanting more SGV Connect? You can hear more on County Measures A and G in our last podcast featuring homelessness solutions super hero Shawn Morrissey and Supervisor Hilda Solis. You can also check out our last podcast State Senator-elect Renee-Perez here of an appearance on Greenspon's SGV Weekly here. SGV Connect is supported by Foothill Transit, offering car-free travel throughout the San Gabriel Valley with connections to the Gold Line Stations across the Foothills and Commuter Express lines traveling into the heart of Downtown L.A. To plan your trip, visit foothilltransit.org. "Foothill Transit. Going Good Places." Sign-up for our SGV Connect Newsletter, coming to your inbox on Fridays, and catch past episodes of SGV Connect and #DamienTalks on LibSyn, iTunes, Google Play, or Overcast.  

With many mail-in ballots already in voters hands, it's time for the SGV Connect election special. This week we talk with a pair of experts about two ballot measures that L.A. County voters will decide this fall. First, Damien interviews Supervisor Hilda Solis about Measure G. Measure G was put on the ballot with the support of three of the five Supervisors and would change the way L.A. County's elected government works. The measure would expand the Board from five to nine members, create new reforms designed to increase transparency for L.A. County departments, and create a county-wide elected position that would serve as the CEO for the County. The reforms to how the Supervisors are elected wouldn't take place until after the next census, so even if it passes dont expext too many changes to happen too soon. After that, Chris interviews Shawn Morrissey of Union Station Housing. Shawn has appeared twice before on the podcast giving overviews on the county-wide politics around homelessness. Today he's explaining and promoting Measure A. In 2017, voters approved a 1/4 cent sales tax to fund homeless services that will expire in 2027. Measure A would erase that sunset and increase the sales tax to 1/2 a cent. Both ballot measures need a simple majority to pass. SGV Connect will be back after the election to review what voters decided locally, regionally and across the state. SGV Connect is supported by Foothill Transit, offering car-free travel throughout the San Gabriel Valley with connections to the new Gold Line Stations across the Foothills and Commuter Express lines traveling into the heart of downtown L.A. To plan your trip, visit Foothill Transit. "Foothill Transit. Going Good Places."

With the Foothill Gold Line Extension to Pomona at 90 percent completion, SGV Connect pays another visit to the Construction Authority's office to chat with chief executive officer Habib Balian. The podcast can be found below, but you can read a transcript of it by clicking here. For clarity's (or maybe confusion's) sake, we are of course referring to the thrice renamed Metro "A Line."  Since 2020, tracks have been laid and station platforms have been poured from Glendora to Pomona. Now those stations really look like stations, and the last leg of the route has been funded: $798 million to build the last 3.2 miles to Montclair. 2025 is going to be a big year for the light rail line: construction is expected to finish, stations will be dedicated, and hopefully, service will begin. Listen to our interview with Habib Balian, and check out progress pics from our tour of the construction sites! AUDIO PLAYER HERE A construction crew works on the decorative glass canopy above the ticketing machine at the Glendora Metro A Line station. The decorative glass canopy above the ticketing machine at the Glendora Metro A Line station. The ticketing machine at the Glendora Metro A Line station. The pedestrian tunnel connecting the platform and parking lot at the Glendora Metro A Line station. The pedestrian tunnel connecting the platform and parking lot at the Glendora Metro A Line station. The passenger drop off turn out at the La Verne Metro A Line station. Crews install a wall which will eventually support public art work at the La Verne Metro A Line station. Crews install the platform roofing at the Pomona Metro A Line Station. A layover building for train drivers under construction at the Pomona Metro A Line station. Media relations professional Albert Ho gestures at the construction progress on the Pomona Metro A Line station. Thanks as always to Albert Ho, Media Relations Director for the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority, for keeping SBLA and its readers up to date on the project. Streetsblog's San Gabriel Valley coverage is supported by Foothill Transit, offering car-free travel throughout the San Gabriel Valley with connections to the Gold Line Stations across the Foothills and Commuter Express lines traveling into the heart of downtown L.A. To plan your trip, visit Foothill Transit. "Foothill Transit. Going Good Places."Sign-up for our SGV Connect Newsletter, coming to your inbox on Fridays!