April 6, 2021
The Honorable Pete Aguilar
United States House of Representatives
109 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Congressman Aguilar,
Inland Action offers its strong support of the Zero-emission fleet charging infrastructure for the West Valley Connector (WVC) Bus Rapid Transit project: base/on-route charging stations and maintenance/storage facilities.
The WVC project’s Phase 1 will implement a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service from the Pomona South Metrolink Station to the Ontario International Airport, Rancho Cucamonga Metrolink station, and Victoria Gardens in Rancho Cucamonga. The proposed BRT service will come with enhanced stops and stations, real-time arrival signage, surveillance and security systems, transit signal priority systems, and dedicated bus lanes on 3.5 miles of Holt Boulevard in the City of Ontario. The project offers a high level of service, reducing transit trip time by about 30% from 75 minutes to 54 minutes for the full length of the corridor. Moreover, the increase in ridership will translate into reduced vehicle travel, in turn producing a GHG reduction. The use of zero emission bus technology will reduce GHG emissions further, relative to conventional compressed natural gas fueling.
If provided, the funding for the charging infrastructure would use a combination of base charging and on-route charging as the most practical strategy for meeting the planned service requirements of the corridor. The fleet of zero-emission buses that will operate the WVC BRT service has been identified as the first major zero-emission project commitment for the San Bernardino Valley.
For these reasons and more, Inland Action requests the inclusion of this project in your FY 2022 Community Project Funding requests.
Sincerely,
Carole Beswick, CEO