Consortium chosen for California people mover project

A render of a new station and rail service from the Inglewood Transit Connector Project in California, US. (Image: City of Inglewood/Elevate Inglewood Partners)

The fully-elevated and fixed-system APM is part of the grander Inglewood Transit Center Project (ITCP), which  earlier this year received more than US$1 billion from the US Federal Transit Administration’s Capital Investment Grant programme.

The entire scheme – spearheaded by the City of Inglewood and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority (Metro) – is expected to cost approximately $2 billion.

Tutor Perini said the ITC Joint Powers Authority will oversee the design, construction, operations and maintenance of the ITC following the contract award.

“EIP and the City are currently in discussions and negotiations regarding the project’s pricing and contractual terms,” added Tutor Perini.

The new APM will be an automated transit system (ATS) of trains and stations that will connect to the Metro’s K Line and to popular destinations in Inglewood including entertainment and sports arenas like the Kia Forum, SoFi Stadium and the brand-new Intuit Dome.

Designing the Inglewood automated transit system

Gannett Fleming, US-based engineering consultancy, said it was providing consulting services on the ITCP ATS and offered insight on the project design.

“The vehicles are smaller than traditional heavy-rail technology and can manoeuvre the tight curves required for site-specific conditions,” said Gannett Fleming. “The system will be fully automated to serve an estimated four million passengers annually, significantly reducing vehicle miles travelled.”

Map of the new connections constructed by the Inglewood Transit Connector Project. (Image: City of Inglewood)

The company added that the ATS trains will operate in a pinched-loop mode with automatic train control on dual tracks, on which trains follow each other and switch back at the end-of-line stations before making the return journey on the adjacent track.

“Design and construction are planned for the trains to be operated in multiple configurations,” added Gannett Fleming.

About the Elevate Inglewood Partners consortium

The consortium comprises international companies and subsidiaries, including contracting lead Tutor Perini (US), equity member Plenary Americas US Holdings (Australia-headquartered), lead designer Parsons Corporation (US), lead ATS operator and supplier Woojin Industrial Systems (South Korea), and lead operations and maintenance contractor Alternate Concepts (US).