Inland Empire transportation advocates were hopeful that the arrival of a new CEO at the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority (SBCTA) would signal a more progressive direction for the agency. New CEO Carrie Schindler’s term is off to a promising start, as SBCTA staff is recommending that the board finally kill the ONT Connector Project (Item 24, Page 599) at its meeting tomorrow morning, December 3.
The ONT Connector project is/was first proposed by Elon Musk in 2019 to connect Rancho Cucamonga Metrolink/Future Brightline West Station and ONT Airport via a tunnel for autonomous underground vehicles.
“Transit advocates have been telling SBCTA for years that the ONT Connector 'Tesla Tunnels' project would be unsafe, costly, unnecessary, and impractical,” writes Brianna Egan, founder of Inland Empire Urbanists. “We sent in hundreds of letters during the Draft EIR stage and at public comment to the board. These realities have finally hit home after six years of planning and study, and thankfully before any shovels have hit the ground.”
For more details on why advocates opposed the project, read Streetsblog’s March article, “Inland Empire Advocates Push Back on Autonomous Car Tunnel Plan for Airport.” Briefly, advocates noted that the technology was untested—which raised questions about whether it would receive additional outside funding or attract riders—and that a mile-and-a-half tunneling project would have far more serious environmental impacts than more traditional transit options.
By ending further study of the project, SBCTA can finally begin real evaluations of alternatives to connect the airport terminals. With the airport growing and the station soon to house stops for both the West Valley Connector bus rapid transit service and Brightline West high-speed rail, a 1.4-mile connector seems like an obvious way to dramatically reduce future vehicle miles traveled in the area.
The story of Musk’s interference is a familiar one to anyone who has covered urban transit or California High-Speed Rail over the last decade and a half. SBCTA had been studying ways to make this connection for years when the Musk-owned Boring Company submitted an unsolicited proposal to build one of its Tesla Tunnels, similar to the one built in Las Vegas in 2019–2020. Even though the technology was essentially vaporware, when the company withdrew its proposal, SBCTA decided to explore its own vehicle-tunnel concept. They batted away criticisms by claiming the tunnel project was a “forward-thinking transit solution.”
But finally—assuming the board follows the staff recommendation—sanity has returned.
What’s Next?
It’s not enough just to kill the project; SBCTA still needs to create a connection between the rail station and the airport. Advocates are pressing the agency to commit to a path forward rather than returning to the drawing board for yet another study of various options.
“I am encouraged that the staff report indicates they will continue to look for solutions to enhance transit connections between ONT airport and the Cucamonga Station... This is an important opportunity for the deprogrammed funds from this project to be reallocated for existing and future high-quality transit options within the same corridor,” continues Egan.
“With ONT passenger counts rising, continued high ridership of the Metrolink San Bernardino Line, future ridership with Brightline West, and continued population growth in the Inland Empire, the corridor would absolutely benefit from a direct rail connection.”
While a rail connection is the preferred long-term solution, there is also a push to accelerate short- and mid-term improvements already underway.
"We applaud SBCTA staff for listening to advocates and moving to cancel this redundant, low-capacity project given the appearance of the very high costs we have been warning about for years,” writes Adriana Rizzo with Californians for Electric Rail and Inland Empire Urbanists.
“We encourage the SBCTA board to redirect unused funds to the West Valley Connect BRT line, which will serve the same route, and begin planning for heavy rail to connect Brightline and the Metrolink system to the Ontario airport."
Construction has already begun on the West Valley Connector project located mainly in southwest San Bernardino County. When completed, the project will be a 19-mile bus rapid transit route connecting the downtown Pomona Transit Center to Cucamonga Station. The route will be operated by Omnitrans, though the capital improvements and operational funding are administered by SBCTA.
Read previous coverage of the West Valley Connector Project in this article from Streetsblog Los Angeles. Check back later in the week for an update on the board vote and any discussion of next steps for the region.
