Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s anti-streetcar views aired in Virginia county debate

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s dislike for streetcars has made its way across the border, where Ford’s past comments became part of a municipal debate in Arlington, Virginia about transit options.

The exact Ford quote employed by Arlington County Board member Libby Garvey was: “I hate those damn streetcars – they are a pain in the rear end.”

That quote then got into the Arlington Sun Gazette, which explained that Ford is: “the somewhat colorful mayor of Toronto, Canada.” (Ford did not return a Sun Gazette reporter’s request for comment.)

Other County Board members had also heard of Ford, with County Board member Chris Zimmerman acknowledging that Ford “is somewhat alone” in his opposition to streetcars in the city of Toronto.

The debate about streetcars comes as Arlington seeks to build an eight-kilometre streetcar network in what is estimated to be a $250-million project. Federal funding for the project was recently denied because staff at the Federal Transit Administration thought the county had underestimated the cost of the project.