Back in the early 1900s, the Los Angeles streetcars (run by Pacific Electric) connected most of Southern California together.
The most expansive electric tram system in the country, one could travel from San Bernardino to Long Beach in just a few hours – and for cheap. Cerritos, Norwalk, and their surrounding communities were connected as well, through the West Santa Ana Branch.
After World War II, as cars began to dominate California, Pacific Electric fell – and so too did mass rail transit in Los Angeles.
However, the paths for the tracks never were destroyed. When the current transit authority for Los Angeles County – Metro – was formed, it acquired the tracks, hoping to once again connect Cerritos to the rest of the county.
In 2018, Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti announced a new initiative to revive public transit in LA – and one of the ways to do that would be to revive the West Santa Ana Branch.
It might now finally be happening. With potential federal funding, already acquired sales tax revenues, and Metro agreeing on the route post-Slauson, construction is likely to soon begin.
The project is going to have two major stations which will help serve Cerritos College – Pioneer Station, which connects to buses that pass through the college, and Bellflower Station, which connects to the already-used C Line to get to Cerritos.
Many students are already coming to Cerritos College from all over the Los Angeles area.
As one of the state’s top community colleges, I personally know people who come from Pico Rivera and Downtown LA – despite them having many closer options for education.
These people currently have to drive to get to Cerritos, despite our GoPass system, because of the number of transfers it would take to get to the college.
With the new line, this would no longer be the case – these communities would be connected nearly directly to the college. Students near the college would also be able to travel to Downtown LA and other communities in the county more easily, increasing their range of job opportunities.
Right now, the largest barrier to the line being worked on is the City of Cerritos.
The City currently has an active lawsuit against Metro to impede work on the line, as it wants to build new underground tunnels instead of using the existing at-grade infrastructure.
If students work to change the City’s goal and endorse the line alongside the other 11 cities, we can finally realize the benefits of the West Santa Ana Branch.
Jose Valdes • Jun 10, 2023 at 8:58 pm
I think this is a great idea… except for the last stop. The last stop should within walking distance of Cerritos College. From the looks of it, the last stop is going to be on Pioneer / South st when THE LAST STOP SHOULD BE CLOSER TO STUDEBAKER / ARTESIA! That way the metro would be closer to Cerritos College, Gahr High School, and the Cerritos Center. That guarantees heavy daily metro use. I don’t understand why the last stop is in such a pointless spot. I might end up going to one of the planned community meets to complain.
Pamela Sztyblewsky • Aug 14, 2023 at 10:46 am
Please do come to the meetings!!! The currently scheduled meetings are about the COW and dismantling of it completely. Including Dial-a-Ride. Meaning that those of us who live here who for whatever reason can’t get a driver’s licence or afford a car, would just be relegated to homebound shut-ins. With nothing within reasonable walking distance. And no neighbours willing or able to let us in their cars to take us places, I’ve lived here most of my life…well I grew up here in the 70’s and 80’s, anyway, went AWAY to college because I couldn’t have gotten from home to Cal State Fullerton or Long Beach or UCI or UCLA with, you know, no CAR…anyway I’ve noticed that coming back home at 50, my neighbourhood has had a complete turnover in terms of residents and no one recognises me as someone who grew up here in the 70’s. Hence, no one will lift a finger to do thing one for me in terms of driving me places even if they are going there anyway. So I’m on foot everywhere I have to go. Getting to campus to TUTOR will involve an hour-long WALK if I can even make it that far. I’ve already had one Stroke but I’m too “young” for Dial-a-Ride if they even keep that going through this city’s anti-transit-snob attitude. I don’t know what it is. Racist snobbery? Selfishness?
As for your misunderstanding of why that last stop proposed isn’t closer to Cerritos College it’s because Cerritos obviously doesn’t CARE about Cerritos College and its students’ ability to GET TO CLASS. And furthermore the station stop is in Artesia, not Cerritos. It’s not Cerritos’ business at all to “oppose” as they’re doing. Trying to stop ARTESIA from getting “the Train.”
Pamela Sztyblewsky • May 18, 2023 at 5:31 pm
This isn’t even going to happen in my lifetime. I was born in 1971, I don’t have that much longer to live if this keeps up.
Pamela Sztyblewsky • Apr 2, 2023 at 3:45 pm
What does Cerritos have to do with it, anyway? The proposed station location is entirely in Artesia, which doesn’t have such a rubbish attitude against public transit. Cerritos is anti-public-transit in general, it feels like there’s some unwritten “law” against decent public transportation around here. Look at the COW schedule diminishing over the years; there are still signs up on the Cerritos College COW stop with the “old” pre-COVID schedule of it running every 30 minutes, and that wasn’t “all that long ago.” Those of us who live here who can’t drive or can’t afford a car for whatever reason, are pretty much screwed trying to get around – over to campus and back, my journeys have to be within the times of day the COW runs or else I have to walk much further to a Metro #128 stop from my house, and both of those things only run once per hour. If I were 30 years younger and healthier I could walk that distance more comfortably, but that’s not the point. The buses are pretty much unreliable and if you miss one, the next one is in an hour or more. Taking the better part of the day just to get across your own “city” is no way to live. When I was attending San Francisco State for my undergrad degree I didn’t have this much trouble getting to and from campus, but then, SF MUNI ran every 5-10 minutes back then. And then later at Yale – New Haven, Connecticut doesn’t have such rubbish public transportation either. Now, in those days I did have a car, and that’s almost 30 years ago now. I’m now not quite old enough to rely on “Dial a Ride” or “Access” type things, so for me, I just have to walk everywhere. Or get another bike and try to keep it from being stolen. It’s not the worst way to live, but it can and has in the past been, better.
Amy Parker • Apr 4, 2023 at 10:02 am
The City’s complaints come from that the WSAB *crosses through* Cerritos, and would have two main effects the NIMBY runners of the City want to avoid:
1. Having rail crossings across streets, which “would cause congestion during school drop-off/pick-up times” (except that we can see that with the A and K Lines, that this is just not true)
2. Having more people from DTLA and other LA regions come to Cerritos (which is… xenophobia isn’t the right term, but like the regional equivalent of xenophobia, definitely is socioeconomic demographic discrimination, and might have some race-based demographic discrimination implications as well)
I fully agree with you, I take 128 fairly regularly and the City has gotten its service whittled down to nothing. I’m working on a COW revival proposal but I don’t know if the City will consider it. We really need to vote out the current City Council members, but Cerritos politics are such a beast…
We also need Metro to step up somewhat, increasing the 128 schedule. NGBP actually wants to cut the 128 to every 60 minutes + no traffic in the Towne Center or along Artesia, which is such a terrible plan… thankfully that seems to have been postponed, Supervisor Hahn’s office did seem to actually be somewhat empathetic, but still. Killing the 130 also didn’t help… but yeah, Cerritos has always been absent quality public transit. Wonder if we could legitimately just get Norwalk to back-fill in the rest of service since they run with such excellent margins (Norwalk hasn’t paid a cent into NT in ages and yet it runs mostly fine)
Pamela Sztyblewsky • Apr 4, 2023 at 10:57 am
I think “xenophobia” is the right term.
Amy Parker • Apr 11, 2023 at 4:15 pm
I mean, it does get the point across. It’s not technically the right term, because this is concerning intra-national not inter-national movement, but still, I get what you’re saying and agree.
Pamela Sztyblewsky • Apr 4, 2023 at 11:20 am
Sometimes I think that Cerritos just wants those of us who grew up here, to pick up our 2,000-square-foot-one-story house and physically move it to somewhere else if we can’t get around our own town because we can’t drive. I had to have “our” Senator’s office get ‘on” the DMV on my behalf because it wouldn’t accept my US passport as proof of ‘everything they need to know’ like it’s by law supposed to be, there’s things like that. Every little thing in California requires fighting some government entity by “sic”-ing your politicians on them.
Too bad the city of Artesia can’t find some other route to run the tracks for the Metro line, maybe along Pioneer Bl up through Norwalk so that it doesn’t “go through” Cerritos at all, and then proceed from there. Oh but wait, that would require building all new tracks.
I’m trying to remember if Norwalk “fought” the Metro Rail line coming to Norwalk all those years ago; to look at the current location, it’s practically in Downey, after all. It’s like Norwalk didn’t really want ‘the train’. And look where the Metrolink station is; it’s practically in Santa Fe Springs.
Well, I can’t physically pick up my house and move IT, and moving out is also not an option, as I don’t want to become homeless again. So I’m stuck in a transportation “desert” having to walk everywhere.
Amy Parker • Apr 11, 2023 at 4:22 pm
“Sometimes I think that Cerritos just wants those of us who grew up here, to pick up our 2,000-square-foot-one-story house and physically move it to somewhere else if we can’t get around our own town because we can’t drive.”
Fully agree with you; as I’ve seen in my little bits of interactions with the City on this so far, they really don’t care about non-drivers.
“I had to have “our” Senator’s office get ‘on” the DMV on my behalf because it wouldn’t accept my US passport as proof of ‘everything they need to know’ like it’s by law supposed to be, there’s things like that. ”
I don’t know when this occurred, but part of this is because the PATRIOT Act-supporting people among the feds who pushed REAL ID demanded birth certificates as proof for REAL IDs, even if you already have something else which is REAL ID compliant (like a passport)! But yeah, that’s a terrible experience, and I’m sorry.
“Every little thing in California requires fighting some government entity by “sic”-ing your politicians on them.”
Yep, and unfortunately said politicians are always so hesitant to get anything done.
Too bad the city of Artesia can’t find some other route to run the tracks for the Metro line, maybe along Pioneer Bl up through Norwalk so that it doesn’t “go through” Cerritos at all, and then proceed from there. Oh but wait, that would require building all new tracks.”
Yeah, and it would rip through already existing property, unless they did underground or aerial (and even then that’s significantly more expensive…)
“I’m trying to remember if Norwalk “fought” the Metro Rail line coming to Norwalk all those years ago; to look at the current location, it’s practically in Downey, after all. It’s like Norwalk didn’t really want ‘the train’. And look where the Metrolink station is; it’s practically in Santa Fe Springs.”
I don’t think they did? Norwalk has always been a lot more pro-transit. I mean, whenever I’m not riding the 128, even as a Cerritos resident, I’m riding Norwalk Transit – because it’s that good. (Except of course when I’m heading to East LB, then that’s LBT, but I digress…)
“Well, I can’t physically pick up my house and move IT, and moving out is also not an option, as I don’t want to become homeless again. So I’m stuck in a transportation “desert” having to walk everywhere.”
Yep, and I’m sorry the City has always been so terrible.
Would you mind getting in contact with me so we can talk more about this? You can DM me at the Mastodon shown in the article, or I can get you more contact information (unfortunately comments on here won’t let me send my email).
Pamela Sztyblewsky • May 9, 2023 at 8:39 am
You wanna talk about the 128, yesterday on my way back here from one of my paid clinical trials up in the Valley, I got literally STRANDED at Compton station by that thing. It drove up, discharged passengers, and then drove away and never came back. Then the “app” said it had been CANCELLED. I had to get back on the Blue Line (I’ll never do THAT again) and get back on the Green Line and come back into “Norwalk” (in quotes because that’s on the Downey line) station and meander my way back over here to 166th/approximately Norwalk Bl on Norwalk Transit, which tells me that they no longer run a “Metrolink shuttle” on the #3. I remember from past trips years ago that it’s a little over one hour walk to the Metrolink station but I’ve discerned that if I get accepted into these paid clinical trials up in The Valley, the Norwalk Metrolink station is where I’ll have to be. To, you know, make it take less than 12 hours round-trip up there, to “just” Reseda or Chatsworth. That 90-day-free thing on Metro, covers “Zone 0” on Metrolink, then my “senior” discount covers it after that.
In a nutshell, depending on the #128 sucks. I’ve heard people get stuck at Compton station for over 2-½ hours waiting for it sometimes. It’s like, if you live in Cerritos, Metro ignores you. And Cerritos is able to make Metro stall putting in service to ARTESIA. I mean, this is one way that growing up in a nice, safe, quiet neighbourhood with good schools – sucks as an older low-income adult.
Pamela Sztyblewsky • May 20, 2023 at 8:23 am
Norwalk Transit cut the #3 service into Cerritos a while ago, now I have to run catch it on the Norwalk/Artesia border over by ABC Unified School District Office, which is fine for my “need to lose weight” daily walking requirements anyway; and it no longer runs on weekends or serves the Metrolink station. So apparently Norwalk Transit is cutting back as well. It feels like just “my” side of Cerritos is lacking in transit options; the Cerritos Mall side of town still has more options because they still have Long Beach Transit over there. I don’t really blame my father for choosing this house over here in the Wittmann Elementary tract, which meant I could walk to school growing up, then I went to Whitney, again, just across the street. Orange County Transit doesn’t really serve this side of town all that well either, unless, again, you can walk a mile or two to the nearest stop. If I can get in better shape….but then there’s still “carrying packages” to deal with…
Paramount101 • Mar 29, 2023 at 7:58 pm
Nothing but petty squabbling by the leaders of Cerritos to hold on to their NIMBY piece of suburbia
Amy Parker • Mar 31, 2023 at 12:24 pm
Fully agree with you. And it’s all at the expense of everyone – Cerritos itself will benefit significantly, except for that it’ll no longer be isolated as a community. Wonder if that’s part of the consideration.