LA is a notoriously car-centric city. Yet it holds the distinction for having the longest light rail line in the world, which just got even longer.
The Metro A line extension that formerly terminated at Azusa now serves the foothills of the San Gabriel Valley with four new stations: San Dimas, Glendora, La Verne, and Pomona North. Riders can now go all the way into Pomona proper, where one can transfer to the Metrolink San Bernardino line.
Not only are the new Metro stations a major win for commuters, they are also an absolute game-changer for students attending the numerous colleges in and around Pasadena and the western foothills. Now that the long-awaited Foothill Extension project is complete, students can now reach 19 higher education institutions more easily without a car. This includes Cal Poly Pomona, APU Citrus College, Pasadena City College, California Institute of Technology, and other colleges and universities. Amid the rising costs of attending college, students can find it difficult to pay for parking, gas, and other auto expenses, whereas Metro participates in UPass to offer discounted transport for college students.
Even if you don’t work or attend school in the area, the expansion of the Metro helps bring LA back to its streetcar roots and a more sustainable future, and less traffic on the 10, 110, and 210. Forget about the west side: did you know that the cities and villages of the Foothills have plenty of their own unique history and charm that you can now access without having to look for parking? Here’s what you need to know about this exciting new development in LA’s public transit.
How Long is the Metro A Line Now?
The Metro A line already broke records for the world’s longest light rail when it ran from Long Beach to Azusa upon the completion of Metro’s Regional Connector project that created three new stations in DTLA and brought the A to the 7th Street Metro Center hub.
Upon completion of the Foothill Extension project, the A line now firmly clings to that record at 57.6 miles and 48 stations. To put this into perspective, this would be like hopping on the E train in NYC’s Financial District and being able to ride all the way into Trenton, New Jersey without ever getting up to transfer.
It takes roughly an hour from the new Foothill stations to reach DTLA and Union Station, about half an hour to Glendora from Old Town Pasadena where the stations are closer together. The stops get farther apart after Sierra Madre Villa, with considerable distance between Glendora and San Dimas while La Verne and Pomona North are a stone’s throw apart.
Since Metrolink’s San Bernardino line is just one flight below the Pomona North Metro terminus, Foothills residents can drastically cut travel time to Union Station by riding Metrolink westward.
A Totally Excellent Adventure to San Dimas
This will disappoint the Elder Millennials and younger Gen Xers reading this, but with the exception of Raging Waters and the high school, the fun 80s romp Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure was mostly shot in Phoenix, Arizona. Even though San Dimas was a prominent setting!
This doesn’t mean you can’t have a calmer but still excellent adventure in San Dimas, though. The Foothill town has a small walkable downtown you can easily reach from the train station. There are old school diners that feel a bit like stepping into that infamous San Dimas phone booth to revisit history. While not as sprawling as downtown Pasadena, a walk down San Dimas Avenue offers a few restaurants and stellar views of the San Gabriel Mountains. Newer restaurants like the Rail Side Cafe just opened in the new train plaza adjacent to the station, designed for commuters seeking a quick bite.
You can also catch Foothill Transit buses near the San Dimas Metro station, and further north along historic Route 66 that eventually becomes Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena.
Although if you want to relive that bogus journey and hit up Circle K, you’ll find one a lot closer to the La Verne station than San Dimas.
A New Gateway to the Pomona Fairplex
If you ever wanted to attend an event at the Pomona Fairplex, the new Fairplex station just opened up a world of possibilities that don’t involve the Kafkaesque situation that is Fairplex parking!
As a regular attendee of Reptile Super Show that’s held twice a year at the Fairplex, I had to do a “test drive” on foot from the new station. Since the reptile show is in the southeastern quadrant of the Fairplex, it’s a considerable walk that’s almost a mile. Your trip may be shorter depending on which area your event is located, but most events are concentrated in the southern end with the north side dedicated to the infamously labyrinthine parking lots. Which is not even much closer to the events than walking from the station.
The safest and fastest way to reach the Fairplex on foot from the new Metro stop is by skimming the top of the Fairplex and going east along Arrow Highway, turning right onto White Avenue, then entering through Gate 15. You can also reach Gate 16 by walking a longer distance down Fairplex Drive, but have to stick to the opposite side of the street because there’s no sidewalk abutting the Fairplex grounds.
If you really don’t feel like navigating the Fairplex’s mammoth parking lot on foot, you can keep walking down White Avenue until you reach Gate 6, or walk to Arrow and White and wait for the Foothill Transit 197 bus (southbound to the Pomona Transit Center) that will drop you off at Gate 6. That gate is much closer to most of the Fairplex’s major events, like the LA County Fair, the reptile show, and other conventions and concerts.
Hopefully, the Fairplex will eventually institute a shuttle between the gates and the Metro station if another Foothill bus line isn’t created to fill in the gap. But even though the station requires a considerable trek to the event, it still beats sitting in bumper to bumper traffic and taking 20 minutes or longer to find parking.
The Fairplex aside, the La Verne station offers a much shorter commute to University of La Verne. As in it’s literally next door to the campus, offering a much quicker and cheaper option if you study or work there. Nearby eats include a small Mexican restaurant across the street from the La Verne station, and you can find both casual and sit-down dining options along the main drag north of the university on Bonita Avenue.
Glendora: The Pride of the Foothills
Glendora earned this very nickname and it’s not hard to see why. The view of the San Gabriel Mountains here was the most breathtaking of all the stops I made on the journey. Glendora Avenue beckons you to explore its downtown full of independent shops, restaurants, and more while you’re stopping by to check out the new Metro stations.
Then I found myself asking, “Wait a minute. Why do those mushroom-shaped trees look so familiar?” then blurted out “Cool as Ice!” Say what you will about the movie’s paper-thin plot and Vanilla Ice’s acting abilities, but it’s hard not to miss the 90s when fading stars used to make a charmingly bad vanity project for SAG rates instead of starting a podcast. But I digress.
That hilariously bad turkey of a movie was indeed shot in and around Glendora, as were many, many more films and TV shows throughout the decades. Often, a couple exterior shots were filmed in Glendora to build up a sense of suburban charm rather than the thrill and grit of LA proper. The only exception I found so far was the TV series The Goldbergs, which featured Glendora as a setting more prominently.
Whether you’ve seen these products of a Hollywood of yore or not, Glendora is absolutely worth a visit if you need a break from the hustle of LA and just want to take in those mountains and classic California cuisine.
Pomona North, The Terminus…For Now
Pomona North is where the long-awaited Foothill Extension terminates, until the Pomona-Claremont connection opens then the terminus after that will be Montclair.
The station is also fairly industrial and not as aesthetic as the prior three stations. However, unlike Glendora, La Verne, and San Dimas, Pomona North Station is not new: it’s been a Metrolink stop for a quite a while, although the fully operational Metro tracks and connection are new.
While there isn’t as much walkable urban or suburban life around the Pomona North station like there is with the others, you can pick up a quick connection into downtown Pomona and the Amtrak and Metrolink station there via Foothill Transit 291 line (southbound towards Pomona Ranch Plaza.) You can also walk a few blocks to get the 197 to the Fairplex if you missed the La Verne stop.
With new stations slated to open on the west side along the D line in late 2025 and other projects like the Vermont Corridor bus rapid transit, it’s exciting to see Los Angeles return to its streetcar roots while evolving.
