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On May 29, Reconnecting America President & CEO John Robert Smith gave the morning keynote address at the Tennessee Obesity Task Force gathering in Nashville. Later, he was interviewed and that interview was recorded. Click on the links below to watch the video on each topic.

Reconnecting America President & CEO John Robert Smith was in Mobile, AL, this week to address the Gulf Coast Passenger Rail Summit. At the summit Smith was interviewed by Ron Reams of NüzzApp, a Gulf Coast regional news website.

Reconnecting America has introduced a video section on their MITOD Action Guide website. The new section will feature video interviews of experts in the housing, transportation and community development fields. The videos will be linked to the various strategies andtools listed throughout the MITOD Action Guide. The videos will offer additional insight on tools and strategies used to create affordable housing near transit from people who work with these issues daily.

The Center For Transit-Oriented Development held a webinar on "Making Joint Development Work: Perspectives from the Federal, Transit Agency and Business Roles." The webinar was co-sponsored by the Federal Transit Administration and the American Public Transportation Association.

This webinar presented research from the Center for Transit-Oriented Development analyzing the potential of TOD to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Planning scenarios for four regions were examined to contrast the GHG reduction potential of compact urban development near transit stations vs. business as usual development. Also, Mike McKeever of Sacramento Area Council of Governments and Tina Hodges at the Federal Transit Administration shared their experience on GHG reduction through transportation and land use planning.

On Nov. 15, the Center for Transit-Oriented Development held a webinar “Employment, Transit and Transit-Oriented Development.” The webinar focused on the importance of concentrating jobs near transit to fostering economically sustainable regions and healthy transit systems. Speakers discussed new research on spatial employment patterns in our metropolitan areas, and the types of economic activity that are most likely to benefit from being near transit. Participants also discussed the ways in which national research has been applied to inform regional economic development, transportation, and land use planning in the San Francisco Bay Area and Phoenix regions. Last, the webinar discussed the best practices across the nation in economic development incentives that support job growth and concentration in sustainable locations.

Photo by John Robert Smith Earlier this week, Reconnecting America's President and CEO John Robert Smith, who also serves as Co-Chairman of Transportation for America, and James Corless, the Director of Transportation for America, were invited to the White House to participate in a discussion with the executive committee of Transportation for America and White House staff. Accompanying them were Transportation for America partners Arnold Weinfeld, Director of Strategic Initiatives and Federal Affairs for the Michigan Municipal League and Scott Wolf, Executive Director, Grow Smart Rhode Island. The conference call discussion focused on the jobs bill and, in particular, the transportation infrastructure element. During the visit, Smith was interviewed by the White House film crew along with several others about the transportation bill. (Video is embedded below.) Later, Smith, Corless and the Transportation for America partners joined other groups in the East Room, where they heard…