Metrolink's Economic Potential:

The accumulated efforts of the Southern California Regional Rail Authority (SCRRA) and its member agencies have manifested into the Southern California Optimized Rail Expansion (SCORE) Plan. SCORE's goals align with the ambitions of California's various transportation agencies as well as the needs of Southern California's residents. In building upon the region's current rail network, the program's $10.1 billion expansion will transform the way that visitors, residents and goods move through the region.

The Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC) concludes that the total impact of SCORE's construction and implementation present a multitude of prospects for the Southern California region. The plan offers economic benefits in both labor and capital productivity all while bringing five major counties of Southern California closer together. Plans such as SCORE help give California its reputation for proactive environmental policies, reducing of harmful greenhouse gas emissions and addressing climate change. SCORE additionally aids disadvantaged communities by connecting them to a vast rail network, capable of quickly connecting them to anywhere in the fivecounty region. The following are the major projected impacts of SCORE:

•  Over 1.3 million jobs will be created over the life of the SCORE project;
•  The construction of the SCORE plan alone will create over 110,000 jobs, each paying nearly $64,000 on average;
•  The SCORE project would increase regional output by over $1 trillion;
•  New stations help attract 2.3 million pedestrians and 1.3 million bicyclists each year;
•  Over $100 billion will be saved on the cost of emissions to the public over the course of the project.

The LAEDC was commissioned to produce a study assessing the impact of the construction investment for SCORE and the associated impacts from forecasted changes in travel demand, regional labor accessibility and reduced transportation costs from saved time. This study serves to demonstrate that the investment from SCORE will not only make the region increasingly attractive for the millions projected to arrive in Southern California for the Summer 2028 Olympic Games, but this expansion will also be a lynchpin for regional prosperity in the decades to come.

This Connect SoCal Passenger Rail report lays out a vision of passenger rail services for the SCAG Region for the next three decades. It demonstrates the progress that has been made over the last two decades in terms of growing ridership, new rail services, capital improvements and new funding opportunities. It demonstrates the regional importance and significance of passenger rail in the SCAG region, and why growing rail services by increasing frequencies in underserved corridors, as well as establishing service in unserved markets, is crucial to the future mobility and sustainability of our region.

The report highlights recent success in establishing new funding opportunities for passenger rail, including the Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP) and Senate Bill (SB) 1. Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner intercity rail service is benefiting from these new funding opportunities as well as recent institutional arrangements that establish local control for the service. The Southern California Regional Rail Authority's (SCRRA) Southern California Optimized Rail Expansion (SCORE) program is an ambitious long-term capital improvement program to increase service on most of its lines to 15- and 30-minute frequencies, and SCRRA was recently awarded nearly one billion dollars in TIRCP funds for initial improvements.

Finally, the report takes a look at existing conditions; a needs assessment which discusses, among other things, capacity constraints and opportunities for improved connectivity, including rail access to the region's airports; and rail projects in the pipeline, both under construction and unfunded strategic long-term projects.