John Robert Smith, President and CEO of Reconnecting America, recently addressed a meeting of the Southern High-Speed Rail Commission  (SHSRC) in New Orleans, Louisiana. Smith was in New Orleans for the Commission’s Intercity Passenger Rail Transportation Summit at the New Orleans Hilton on July 15-16.  Along with Gil Carmichael, a former Federal Railroad Administrator and former Amtrak board member, and current chairman of the board of the University of Denver’s Intermodal Transportation Institute and SHSRC member, Smith spoke on the economics of high speed rail, both from a national and local perspective.  “With the federal government committed to high-speed rail, the New Orleans-Baton Rouge corridor is a good candidate for investment,” Smith said. “High-speed rail provides not only economic development opportunities but accessibility for all citizens in their everyday lives, as well as in times of a natural crisis.”    In addition to Carmichael and Smith’s…