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DC.StreetsBlog.org described the day's fireworks with the headline "Amtrak Foe Mica Meets His Match in John Robert Smith."  Streetsblog's Capitol Hill editor Tanya Snyder offered a detailed summary of the exchange between Smith and MIca, the "self-appointed Amtrak bully-in-chief."

$code Chairman Denham, Ranking Member Brown, and members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today.  I am John Robert Smith, Co-Chair of Transportation for America, the country’s broadest and most diverse transportation coalition.  Our members hail from the fields of transportation, housing, environment, public health, real estate, safety, and social equity, representing more than 500 different organizations.   I am also the President and CEO of Reconnecting America, a national nonprofit that integrates transportation and community development.  Reconnecting America is the managing partner of the Center for Transit-Oriented Development, which conducts research and promotes best practices in development along transit lines. I would like to thank the Subcommittee for holding this hearing on the role of innovative finance in intercity passenger rail.  Functional, safe, and efficient transportation systems are one of the cornerstones upon which this…

Reconnecting America President & CEO John Robert Smith gave the National League of Cities Summer Policy Forum an update on the current Amtrak reauthorization legislation. Smith, the former mayor of Meridian, MS, is a member of the League's Transportation and Infrastructure Services Committee.

TRANSPORT Brazil Officials Reverse Bus, Subway Fare Hikes  NBC News   Leaders in Brazil's two biggest cities said Wednesday that they have reversed an increase in bus and subway fares that ignited protests across the nation.