U.S. second gentleman rides Tempe streetcar, advocates for transit investment

Douglas Emhoff, husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, visited Tempe Friday to discuss transit and the expansion of the Tempe streetcar route.

Joined by representatives of Valley Metro, and officials from Tempe, Mesa, Chandler, Phoenix and the Federal Transit Authority, Emhoff road a section of the line.

"President Biden and Vice President Harris understand how important it is that everyone has access to reliable public transportation," Emhoff said.

"This grant will improve transportation access for low-income, underrepresented and transit-dependent populations in both Tempe and Mesa."

The Rio East-Dobson Streetcar Extension Study recently received a $15.9 million USDOT RAISE grant to help complete the study. The recommended alignment will be presented to Mesa and Tempe for consideration later this year, according to a release.

Tempe residents placed multimodal transportation as one of their top 20 priorities in the 2023 Community Survey. Tempe has the highest per capita transit ridership of any city in the Greater Phoenix Area. In  two years, there have been 10 million rides in the city, according to the city.

“Tempe is a strong advocate for transit, with good reasons. Our community relies on it. Businesses want it. And it brings economic development,” Tempe Mayor Corey Woods said.

“In the future, even more people will rely on streetcar, light rail, buses and bikes for convenience and cost savings.”

Tempe has the highest population density in the state, according to the release.

The Maricopa Association of Governments predicts that Tempe’s population will grow by 70,000 people by 2050.

“People will rely on streetcar and transit to get to the City of Mesa’s Cub’s Stadium, to shop at Tempe Marketplace or Riverview Mall – or to get to their job or school,” the release stated.

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