Investing in America Tour Stop with Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff in Arizona Highlights Funding for Valley Metro’s Rio East-Dobson Streetcar Extension

Phoenix, AZ — Tomorrow, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff will visit Tempe in an effort to push improvement of public transportation and ride the Valley Metro Streetcar Line. This past June, Valley Metro was awarded a $15.9M federal grant to advance the Rio East-Dobson Streetcar Extension (REDE). The REDE project aims to expand the existing 3-mile Valley Metro Streetcar by an additional 4.35 miles, from Tempe into west Mesa, enhancing regional connectivity and supporting the area’s rapid growth.

Tempe Mayor Corey Woods and other local leaders are expected to join Emhoff and make comments at the event.

The newest funding for the streetcar, made possible by the administration’s clean energy plan, could help improve the air quality of the city. According to the American Lung Association’s State of the Air report, Phoenix-Mesa ranks 5th worst for high ozone days out of 228 metro areas.

Despite the fact that the Biden-Harris administration and the Arizona Democratic delegation’s clean energy plan has created more than 300,000 clean energy jobs across the country and ultimately will improve our air and water quality, congressional Republicans have previously voted to repeal the clean energy plan more than 30 times. According to recent polling, 40% of Arizona voters say climate is important to their vote.

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