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Councilmember Ru calls Gold Line approval "momentous day," urges services for lower-income riders
Summary
Councilmember Ru praised recent approvals advancing the Gold Line to Montclair, highlighted an MTA figure that the line's average rider income is about $25,000, and urged planners to ensure services and amenities meet the needs of working-class families.
Councilmember Ru said the regional approvals for the Gold Line extension to Montclair marked "a momentous day" and urged continued attention to ensuring the line serves lower-income, working-class riders.
"It was a momentous day," Ru said, recounting the Gold Line Authority's approvals and thanking local leaders and advocates who pushed the project forward. Ru noted that MTA figures presented at the meeting put the "average income of a rider" on the Gold Line at about $25,000 and said that should shape service and amenity decisions.
Ru also described the long-term aspiration to extend regional rail to the Ontario Airport and praised Supervisor Katherine Barger and other officials for work that helped advance the line. She said the extension means more than mobility: it is "jobs, it's good jobs," including construction and operations.
Ru framed the approval as a regional achievement but emphasized the local policy implications: ensuring accessible service and affordability so the Gold Line benefits Montclair's working families, and coupling transit progress with housing policy to retain younger residents.
The comments were delivered as part of council reports rather than as a formal council action; no local vote on the Gold Line occurred at this meeting.
