Ray Wolfe, executive director of SANBAG, said his agency doesn’t have the money nor the political will to support an extension of the Gold Line light-rail from Montclair to Ontario airport. Representatives from the San Gabriel Valley’s Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority and the San Bernardino Associated Governments (SANBAG) agree that a rail stop is desirable, but disagreed sharply over what it would look like. Earlier, he spoke about how regional airports can invigorate the local economy if they find enough air carriers willing to fly there and if operators, cities and regional governments develop a passenger niche.

“Your journey has been and will continue to be challenging, enlightening, invigorating and frustrating and all of those things at once,” Huerta said, ominously. While refraining from the specifics, Huerta spoke about future challenges facing OIAA after it receives the keys to the underused airport.

To the surprise of about 200 in the audience, Huerta addressed the eventual transfer of ownership. Michael Huerta, administrator of the FAA, was Monday’s keynote speaker at the “Greener Valleys 2016” conference sponsored in part by MoveLA, Move Inland Empire, the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments and Cal Poly Pomona, where the day-long gathering was held. While Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) had agreed in principal to sell the airport to the Ontario International Airport Authority, the transfer set for July 1 has been delayed by red-tape in Washington, D.C., specifically consisting of a Federal Aviation Administration authorization bill stalled in Congress. POMONA > At a conference Monday aimed at boosting regional connectivity between the Inland Empire and the San Gabriel Valley, territorial and financial issues created a lack of agreement on the best way to move people and solve cross-county gridlock.Īt the heart of transportation and economic improvements are two projects that remain in stalemate - a thriving, independent Ontario International Airport and a set of rail lines to serve airport passengers and give cross-county commuters an alternative to driving the 10, 60 or 210 freeways.

Lone foothill with ruins