The second gentleman, Douglas Emhoff, visited Tempe on Friday and took a ride on a Valley Metro streetcar.
He emphasized the importance of reliable public transportation and praised the investments being made in Maricopa County.
Emhoff pointed to the Biden administration’s $91 billion investment in transit projects nationwide through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Almost $16 million of that is being invested in the Valley Metro streetcar line.
Marty Ziech, Valley Metro capital planning manager, said the streetcar meets a unique transportation need in urban areas like downtown Tempe.
“It’s a single vehicle that can carry more people than a bus, not as many people as a light rail, great to get around a downtown, where a light rail offers a great option to go a long distance,” Ziech said.
Valley Metro is in the middle of an expansion study, trying to identify a new streetcar route that will take passengers farther east in Tempe and into Mesa.
“To serve the Chicago Cubs Spring Training facility, Sloan Park,” Ziech said. “It will serve another major regional shopping center, the Mesa Riverview mall, as well as the popular Riverview Park, a lot of great residential neighborhoods, and then finally turn along Dobson Road to serve the region’s growing Asian District with a stop at Dobson and Main Street.”
Later in the day, Emhoff was scheduled to deliver remarks at a campaign event in Phoenix and attend the WNBA All-Star Weekend Skills Challenge and 3-Point Contest.
