Mayor Rob Ford hasn’t given up on his dream of phasing out Toronto’s streetcars.

The pro-subway mayor made it clear Wednesday he still wants to rid the city of the TTC’s streetcars even if it doesn’t happen for decades.

“It’s going to be hard, it is going to take years to phase them out,” Ford told reporters. “I won’t be buying anymore streetcars as long as I’m mayor and I’m planning to be mayor for a long time, much to your chagrin.”

Ford blamed streetcars for “causing congestion in this city” and argued that buses would be a better alternative.

Before Ford swept into office, council agreed to a $1.2-billion deal to buy 204 new streetcars. They are expected to start hitting the streets this August and a new garage is being built on Leslie St. to house the vehicles. The new fleet is expected to last as long as 35 years.

TTC officials say the capacity of one new streetcar equals that of three 12-metre buses.

The debate over whether the city should stick with streetcars may come up sooner rather than later at City Hall.

The TTC’s request for 60 new streetcars — on top of the 204 already ordered — was approved as part of the 2014 budget, although there is no funding for the purchase. “(The purchase) will need to come back to the board and council for approval again once funding is in place,” TTC spokesman Brad Ross said.

Ford said Toronto has “a terrible transit system compared to other major cities in the world” and that congestion is “only going to get worse.”

“As Toronto grows there is going to be more cars, there is going to be more congestion,” he said.

But Ford argued subways are the only form of transit that will get motorists to take transit.