The cost to build a mass transit line through the Sepulveda Pass connecting the Westside with the San Fernando Valley ranges from about $15 billion to $24 billion, LA Metro said.

After much anticipation, LA Metro presented the cost estimates for the first time at its recent online informational meeting on the project that would connect the two biggest suburban regions of Los Angeles. It offers an alternative to driving the congested 405 Freeway between West LA and Van Nuys/Sherman Oaks and roads and freeways between the Valley and UCLA.

The first monorail alternative would cost $15.4 billion but does not include a station at UCLA. Passengers must ride a bus from the from D Line (Purple)’s Westwood/VA Station to UCLA. Alternative 3, also a monorail, includes a 3.4-mile monorail tunnel that provides a one-seat ride to UCLA by way of an underground monorail station located beneath the UCLA Luskin Center. It would cost $20.8 billion.

Alternative 4, mostly underground rail but includes four aerial stations in the San Fernando Valley, comes in at $20 billion, while the others, alternatives 5 and 6 are all underground rail and would cost $24.2 billion and $24.4 billion, respectively. All would have underground stations at UCLA.

Clearly, the underground rail alternatives require tunneling and more land acquisitions for the train’s right-of-way and that raises the cost.

“Metro’s cost benefit estimates and updated ridership numbers provide some clarity to the discussion about the best Sepulveda alternative,” wrote Coby King in an emailed response. King is co-chair of Valley Industry & Commerce Association (VICA)’s transportation committee and a long-time San Fernando Valley transit advocate.

Ridership on Alternative 5 is the highest at 124,000 riders a day, while the lowest number of riders at 63,000 is estimated for Alternative 1, the first monorail option. King dismisses Alternative 1 because of its low ridership and no direct connection to UCLA or the D (Purple) Line.

Traveling by car during the morning peak hours takes 40-90 minutes from Van Nuys/Metrolink Station to UCLA Gateway Plaza. The same trip riding on any of the project alternatives drops to 12-39 minutes, Metro reported.

Two private companies were signed by Metro to prepare the concepts and designs. Los Angeles SkyRail Express (LASRE) is developing plans to build the monorail, while Sepulveda Transit Corridor Partners, including Bechtel Development Company, Meridiam Infrastructure and American Triple I Partners, would build the heavy rail.

Metro has about $8 billion budgeted, mostly from Measure M, the half-cent sales tax for transportation projects passed by county voters in 2016 — including a majority in the San Fernando Valley.

Those who favor the monorail approach include the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association (SOHA) and the Bel Air Association. Both say the above-ground monorail columns are less intrusive on the 405 median or shoulder and oppose tunneling under homes for a subway.

Sepulveda Transit Corridor Partners had put the cost of their subway/rail project at $10.8 billion. SOHA has said the rail project would cost upwards of $25 billion and that Metro would not have the money to complete it.

The groups favor the monorail as a more cost-efficient alternative, saying a monorail option could be built for around $7.5 billion, but the Metro cost estimates put that (Alternative 1) at $15 billion, twice what the SOHA and Bel-Air groups predicted.

“I am very shocked at how high the monorail costs were,” said Bob Anderson, vice president and chair of the SOHA transportation committee, who watched the online meeting. “Those estimates are much higher than we thought.”

While SOHA said all along the heavy rail cost would be around $25 billion, he said that could climb to $30 billion or more by the time construction starts.

Anderson also disagrees with how Metro figured the lower ridership numbers for the first monorail option, saying the assumption that students and employees won’t ride a connecting bus is not true. UCLA is fourth-largest employer in Los Angeles County, with about 80,000 people on campus every day.

Metro is considering five alternative routes, either by a monorail (alternatives 1 and 3; 2 was removed) or automated underground heavy rail (alternatives 4, 5) and alternative 6, an underground rail train with a driver).

Metro has yet to release the Draft Environmental Impact report (DEIR). And after that is released, the public will be able to comment on the alternatives and each’s environmental impact. Later, Metro will chose one of the five as the “locally preferred alternative.”

Currently, about the only certainties for this project are the two end points: the north end of the project would be at the Metrolink/Amtrak station at Van Nuys Boulevard and Saticoy Street, while the south end connects to the Metro E (Exposition) light-rail line, which runs from Santa Monica to Downtown L.A. How to get there varies between an aerial, Disneyesque monorail following the 405, or an underground subway similar to those in other parts of Los Angeles.

Here’s a more detailed look at the five alternatives and the estimated construction costs in 2023 dollars:

• Alternative 1: $15.4 billion. Monorail with aerial alignment on 405 Freeway corridor and electric bus connection to UCLA. 15.1 miles, with eight stations: Metro E Line (Expo)/Sepulveda, Santa Monica Blvd., Wilshire Blvd. (Metro D Purple Line), Getty Center, Ventura Blvd., Metro G Line, Sherman Way, Van Nuys Metrolink Station. Electric bus connection from D Line (Purple) Westwood/VA Station to UCLA

• Alternative 3: $20.8 billion. Monorail with aerial alignment on 405 Freeway corridor and underground alignment between Getty Center and Wilshire Blvd. 16.1 miles, with seven stations: Metro E Line (Expo)/Sepulveda, Santa Monica Blvd., Getty Center, Ventura Blvd., Metro G Line, Sherman Way, Van Nuys Metrolink Station. Two underground stations: Wilshire Blvd. (Metro D Purple Line), UCLA Gateway Plaza. Underground alignment between the Getty Center and Wilshire Blvd.

• Alternative 4: $20 billion. Heavy rail with underground alignment south of Ventura Blvd. and aerial alignment generally along Sepulveda Blvd. in the San Fernando Valley. 13.9 miles, with four underground stations: Metro E Line (Expo) Sepulveda, Santa Monica Blvd., Wilshire Blvd. (Metro D Purple Line), UCLA Gateway Plaza. Four aerial stations: Ventura Boulevard, Metro G Line, Sherman Way, Van Nuys Metrolink Station.

• Alternative 5: $24.2 billion. Heavy rail with underground alignment including below Sepulveda Blvd. in the San Fernando Valley. 13.8 miles (underground), with seven underground stations: Metro E Line (Expo) Sepulveda, Santa Monica Blvd., Wilshire Blvd. (Metro D Purple Line), UCLA Gateway Plaza, Ventura Blvd., Metro G Line, Sherman Way and one aerial station at the Van Nuys Metrolink Station.

• Alternative 6: $24.4 billion. Driver-operated heavy rail with underground alignment including below Van Nuys Blvd. in the San Fernando Valley and southern terminus station on Bundy Drive. 12.9 miles (underground), with seven underground stations: Metro E Line (Expo)/Bundy, Santa Monica Blvd., Wilshire Blvd. (Metro D Purple Line), UCLA Gateway Plaza, Ventura Blvd., Metro G Line, Van Nuys Metrolink Station.

Completion is estimated between 2033 and 2035, according to Metro.

Metro is holding more informational meetings on the project. They are as follows:

• Tuesday, May 27, 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Westfield Topanga Community Center, 21710 Vanowen St., Canoga Park, 91303

• Wednesday, May 28, 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Veterans Memorial Building Rotunda Room, 4117 Overland Ave., Culver City, 90230

• Thursday, May 29, 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Westwood United Methodist Church, 10497 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, 90024

• Saturday, May 31, 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sherman Oaks East Valley Adult Center, 5056 Van Nuys Blvd., Building B, Sherman Oaks, 91403