Cincinnati's streetcar isn't going to expandany time soon, according to Pete Buttigieg and Mayor Aftab Pureval.
But that's not because interest doesn't exist.
"Often the biggest barrier is funding ... you just can't get as much as done if you don't have support at the federal level, and the current administration is not very pro-transit," Buttigieg explained to The Enquirer at a special event in Cincinnati on Sept. 6. "It's just not the reality, but it doesn't have to stay that way."
Buttigieg joined Pureval at pre-Labor Day town hall at The Clubhouse at Rhinegeist Brewery in Over-the-Rhine. Around 300 people gathered to hear from Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and U.S. Secretary of Transportation under President Joe Biden.
Questions centered around housing, healthcare, reforming the Supreme Court and promoting public transit.
Buttigieg spoke of the roughly 20,000 transportation projects completed during his cabinet term and praised the $1.6 billion in funds going to the underway Brent Spence Bridge project. But when asked about expanding the streetcar, he said, it's going to take a supportive presidential administration and a public that's more transit-minded.
"It's about teaming up with a city when they know they want to go in a certain direction," he told The Enquirer. "When the mayor is saying, 'I want to build this and the money is a barrier. Can you help me?' That's where the federal government has a very important role."
Pureval echoed that sentiment, saying he continues to support extending the streetcar to Uptown, which includes Cincinnati's second-largest employment center around the University of Cincinnati and major hospitals.
"I think it's absolutely in Cincinnati's best interest to expand the streetcar to our second-highest-density workforce center," Pureval said.
The comments come just days before Cincinnati celebrates the streetcar's 10th anniversary on Wednesday, Sept. 9. Since opening in 2016, the 3.6-mile route connecting The Banks, downtown and Over-the-Rhine has become a fixture of the city's urban core, though long-discussed extensions have never materialized.
"It's not going to happen under the current administration," Pureval added, referring to President Donald Trump. "They are not supportive of those kinds of transit projects, but we are not standing in place. We're designing and about to roll out Bus Rapid Transit, which is going to be transformational for the northern part of the city and even into the northern suburbs."
Still, Pureval believes a new federal administration could create another opportunity to pursue an extension.
"In the future, under a new administration that takes transportation seriously, it'll probably be another opportunity for the city to push for expanding the streetcar," he said.
On Saturday, Sept. 5, Buttigieg also spoke at a Labor Day picnic at Stricker's Grove sponsored by the Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Council. He said the event made him "optimistic for what we can do in Ohio" including the prospect of electing gubernatorial candidate Dr. Amy Acton, who also spoke at the event.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: 'Not the reality.' Buttigieg talks expansion of Cincinnati streetcar
