“We do not believe that Metrolink adequately promotes the connectivity it has to a major-air-carrier airport,” she said. “And Metrolink could be promoted as a cost-effective way for passengers to get to the airport in lieu of more expensive taxis or parking.”
Angela Starr, a Metrolink spokeswoman, said the board would carefully consider changes that had the least impact to the fewest number of passengers.
Considering the severity of the rail authority’s financial issues, airport commissioners said they were willing to promote Metrolink service to the airport so long as it was not reduced.
The airport authority would also consider reviving shuttle service between the Downtown Burbank Station to the Bob Hope Airport Train Station, reconnecting Antelope Valley Line passengers to the airport.
But it’s going to take a reordering of priorities to ensure those services are maintained, Glendale City Councilwoman Laura Friedman said.
She pointed to a proposed tunnel extension of the 710 Freeway — a costly, long-fought-over project that the Glendale City Council took a harder stance against last week — as a prime example of what she called misguided planning.
“Overall, the state really needs to take a look at where it’s spending its money,” she said.
“It should be spending it on alternate transportation — not on highways and tunnels.”
