IBTTA and Coronavirus: We're All In This Together

If the coronavirus pandemic has done one thing, it has brought human societies around the world crashing back to basics. For the IBTTA family, those basics come down to community, connectivity, communication, and caring.

In normal times, we are about bringing people together face to face to network, learn and share. Working in transportation, we understand how much everyone depends on people and goods getting where they need to go. Working in tolling, we have a driving desire to be part of a solution that provides greater mobility, connects people and goods, and makes those things happen faster, more safely, and more reliably.

While we are sheltering in place and tending to a very different set of priorities at home, we are also searching for solutions to keep our employees and customers. The underlying value of connecting has never been more immediate. That’s why we all have to keep the lines of communication open—to receive and share the latest pandemic information, get the latest, accurate instructions and guidance from the public health heroes in our midst, and do what we can to help our communities.

IBTTA has always been and will always be a convener. Last week, IBTTA President Samuel Johnson and CEO Pat Jones, convened five virtual check-in calls—one with more than 60 tolling agency CEOs and executive directors, the other with more than 30 of the industry’s top private sector leaders. Participants compared situations, solutions and practices on the real time issues and problems they were facing. They shared their knowledge on how to respond, along with the certainty that plans will need to be in place to recover from this unprecedented pandemic.

“What has impressed me from all these meetings is the gentleness and humanity of the interactions,” Jones wrote in a message to members. “We can’t know with certainty what the next days and weeks will bring. But my heart is warmed by the glow of your dignity, sobriety and charity in these difficult days.”

Johnson said, “As the situation unfolds, IBTTA plans to keep on communicating, serving as a point of contact and coordination, and a beacon of hope and inspiration to help everyone stay strong and stay well. IBTTA is issuing daily updates to our coronavirus resource page, including the latest on our members’ response plans and announcements. We’re keeping a close eye on the action on the coronavirus on Capitol Hill and watching out for the latest news on the pandemic.”

All of which is to say, while you fight the most important battle on the home front, we’ve got your back. And we know you’ve got ours. We are all in this together, and we will all come through this stronger.

Bookmark IBTTA’s coronavirus page and make it one of your go-to resources for updates on the pandemic.