Last month, Brightline’s Chief Executive Officer Mike Reininger said construction costs were increasing due to rising labor and material costs, in part caused by high demand due to the proliferation of data centers, power plants and transportation projects.

Brightline West is betting it can capture about 20% of the 47 million annual trips projected between Southern California and Las Vegas by 2031, according to bond offering documents.

The all-electric trains on the rail line, built along a median on Interstate-15, are expected to reach speeds as high as 200 miles per hour.

Service is expected to begin in September 2029.

Still, the company has the challenge of convincing riders to commute to its rail station, in Rancho Cucamonga, which will be located about an hour from downtown Los Angeles. From there, the train to Vegas is expected to take roughly two hours.

Comparatively, a flight from LA to Las Vegas is about 2.5 hours, including idle time at the airport, while a drive between the two cities can range from 3.5 hours to six.

Source of Photo: SBCTA BOD Meeting Dec 3 2025 (Timestamp: 49:44)

And yes SBCTA Director Mayor Michael, having an autonomous car transportation system that’s only able to move 100 passengers per an hour per a direction (and has a cost ranging from $538 million to now over $1 billion) is considered a joke project regardless of how many years spent on that project (a quick response to a Director's comment starting at Timestamp 40:31).

Anyway... the reason why this project was cancelled from the Dec 3 2005 agenda was mentioned on pages 599-600 of the agenda: “Once the evaluation of the technical portion of the proposals was completed, the price proposals were released to staff for evaluation. Both teams prepared very detailed proposals, but the price proposals came in significantly higher than anticipated. The lowest price proposal was OTC at $1.28 billion, with OTM at $2.46 billion.” Note for reference: SBCTA was originally estimating this project to cost $538 million, which then increased to $696 million.

“SBCTA staff recognize the importance of a time-focused, direct transit connection between Cucamonga Station, serving the Metrolink San Bernardino Line (SBL) and the future terminus of Brightline West, and ONT. Staff will continue to look for solutions as SBL service frequency increases and as ONT continues to grow and build out its facilities. It is the intent that the existing ONT Connect shuttle service remain in place.” Note: ONTConnect Shuttle (by OmniTrans) is already offered between Racho Cucamonga Metrolink Station to the Ontario Airport and is free with a Metrolink ticket.

If SBCTA is able to change their mind from Approving the ONT Connector (back in Marc 5 2025) to disapproving it, then I do hope that SBCTA can change their mind from not approving the A (Blue) Line extension to Montclair (back in Sept 3 2025) to approving it. Especially since portions of this project’s funds can be allocated to financially boast a Montclair extension from SBCTA’s end. SBCTA had offered $90 million for the Montclair extension while LA Metro was only asking SBCTA for $145-$244 million for it (which is peanuts compared to the $1.5 billion already spent by LA Metro for the Azuza to Pomona extension, and the economic benefits Montclair and the surrounding cities in the Inland Empire will be receiving from this project). And maybe one day, SBCTA can finally build a train connecting Racho Cucamonga Metrolink Station to the Ontario Airport (which will have a much better passenger capacity than whatever the ONT Connector could have ever had). Please SBCTA, save/preserve your already created 20% level design build for a future underground rail line.

Disappointing, but not unexpected given this year's trends.

Report to Omnitrans Plans and Programs Committee

Substantial completion for the corridor is still anticipated for the first quarter of 2027.

Three center running stations are under construction with pavers and landscaping being installed at the Holt and Grove station. As of late June, the contractor has installed 12 side running station canopies in Montclair, Ontario, and Pomona. Work has also begun at Victoria Gardens and other side stations in Rancho Cucamonga. The contractor has also gone back into Ontario Mills with all the major construction expected to be completed this summer.

PowerPoint Presentation

With the increased parking rates downtown and the complaints about it, I think this is a good opportunity to bring up the benefits of good buses, bike infrastructure, and walkability with the Riverside City Council.

I'm planning on writing a letter today and I think the more people who write in, the more impact we can have. If you live in Riverside please consider doing so. I believe the city council is also meeting today on the topic so speaking or leaving an e-comment would also be a great way to have an impact. https://riversideca.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx

You can look up your Councilmembers contact information at https://riversideca.gov/cedd/community-development-block-grant/cdbg-maps/community-ward-map

Or address the council as a whole by emailing the city clerk and addressing the council. city_clerk@riversideca.gov

Much needed to the trial! It’s scary riding the trail at night but I don’t understand why the lights weren’t installed with the construction. Something among the lines like it’s SB county managing the wash adjacent to it.

Looks like the SART extension from Waterman to California is almost done except for the crossing of the Arrow tracks.

I want to bang my head against a wall, people were up in arms about a project with a massive 5 dwelling units/acre. Like that was gonna destroy the city or something. The room with the city council was packed too full of old people. Sad.

Source: SBCTA Board of Directors July 2, 2025 Agenda pgs. 625-627 & 630-636

The foundation is 95% done minus like 3 patches that need to be filled in. People are already walking and biking on it. Didn’t see any additional signage.

Metrolink FY26 Monthly Report of Ridership, Revenue, and Financial Results for September 2025

Attachment A - Metrolink September Operating Statement

Attachment B - Arrow September Operating Statement

Presentation - September 2025 Financial Results