California Governor Gavin Newsom has announced the release of nearly $2 billion in funding for public transportation projects across the state - including a long-proposed extension of Metro light rail service into San Bernardino County .

The money, approved as part of SB 125 in 2023, was originally slated to be released by the state in April 2024. However, with the state facing a budget shortfall, the California Finance Department put a 60-day hold on all unallocated funding, briefly tying up the release of the transportation money. That logjam has not been cleared, allowing money to be distributed to dozens of projects by 22 different agencies across the state.

Among the new money being released is $500 million for Metro's extension of the A Line from Pomona to Claremont and Montclair. That 3.2-mile addition to what is already the longest light rail line in the world will make the A Line the first to extend beyond Los Angeles County borders into San Bernardino County. The resulting corridor will span more than 50 miles between Montclair and Long Beach, with stops in Downtown Los Angeles and Pasadena along the way.

State officials have also indicated that the remaining $298 million allocated for the A Line extension is to be issued before the end of 2024.

The Daily News reports that San Bernardino County is prepared to spend $80 million to pay for the one mile of ne rail which would be located within its borders. The extension is expected to account for roughly 8,000 daily boardings.

The under-construction extension of the A Line from Azusa to Pomona was most recently indicated to be approaching 90 percent completion, based on information released by the Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority. Testing for the extension is now underway, and completion is expected by early next year.

Plans originally called for the under-construction project to reach Montclair. However, rising construction costs resulted resulted in work being limited to the Azusa-to-Pomona extension.

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