Get a free ride: Metro Gold Line through East LA opens this weekend

Los Angeles public transit riders have a new route next week. The Metro Gold Line Eastside Extention opens this weekend.

The new leg of the gold line runs east from Union Station through Little Tokyo and Boyle Heights, and into East L.A. It makes eight stops and winds up at Atlantic and Pomona. It runs through some of the most densely populated areas of L.A. County where many residents rely on public transit.

The six mile extension cost nearly $900 million to build. A little more than half of the money comes from the federal government. The other portion is state and local funding from a half-cent sales tax voters approved years ago. Officials broke ground on the project five years ago.

Elected officials are riding the line Saturday for an opening dedication celebration that includes confetti cannon fire as the train enters the East Los Angeles Civic Center station. The new portion of the Gold Line opens to the public Sunday with free rides all day along the entire Gold Line from Pasadena to Union Station and east to Atlantic. There will be celebrations underway around several of the new stops, including the mariachi festival by the station at Mariachi Plaza.