Update: May 28th Metro Board Meeting "A Good First Step"

Jess,
Thursday’s Metro Board Meeting was truly inspiring.

Many of you who came to Metro Headquarters to show your support helped influence Metro Board Members to budget $10 million for the Foothill Extension for fiscal year 2009-2010, which begins on July 1st. This is encouraging news since it far exceeds the $127,000 Metro officials originally intended to allocate to the Foothill Extension for the fiscal year and it is the first time Metro has funded the Gold Line Foothill Extension in 20 years! View the latest I Will Ride blog posting for a recap.

This step forward shows how your support is making an impact. Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich, who sponsored the motion for the $10 million in Foothill Extension funding said in an article in today’s San Gabriel Valley Tribune: “I have to give credit to the San Gabriel Valley people who kept showing up to meetings to lobby for this.”

While $10 million is a good start, it still falls short of securing a long term commitment from Metro to the Foothill Extension. On June 25th, the Metro board will be discussing the inclusion of the Foothill Extension into its Long Range Transportation Plan, which would determine a start and completion date for the project and the schedule of funding.
We can celebrate yesterday’s win, but we must keep our eye on the prize: getting Foothill Extension funding on track for operation to Azusa in 2013!

We will follow up with you in the next few weeks and hope that you can join us on June 25th to once again influence the Metro board and ensure the Foothill Extension is included in the Long Range Transportation Plan. Save the date!
Sincerely,I Will Ride Outreach Teamhttp://iwillride.list-manage.com/track/click?u=0219d8c372fdeb1f9f9eafb25&id=489268bda0&e=9d27d14a7f
P.S. Help us keep up the momentum and tell a friend to join the I Will Ride campaign. There is nothing better than riding public transit with a buddy!