IBTTA Statement on the Passing of Neil Gray, Long-Time Government Affairs Director and Transportation Leader

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  Monday, August 24, 2020

CONTACT: Bill Cramer, Communications Director

[email protected] or 202-210-2962 (mobile) 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Patrick Jones, Executive Director and CEO of the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA), issued the following statement today on the passing of long-time IBTTA government affairs director, Neil Gray:

“This weekend we lost a member of our IBTTA family, Neil Gray, IBTTA’s long-time Government Affairs Director.  Neil was a dear friend and colleague to many in the IBTTA family and throughout the transportation community in Washington, DC and around the world. For more than 40 years, Neil shaped surface transportation policy and served the members at three vital transportation associations.

At IBTTA over the last 27 years, Neil worked to promote a better Congressional understanding about the mechanisms and value of toll financing as a response to declining state and federal funding. He advocated for broader acceptance of innovative financing concepts by the U.S. DOT and state legislatures. For more than 10 years, he led IBTTA’s efforts to achieve nationwide interoperability of electronic toll collection. He also worked closely with congressional staff on the details and passage of five transportation reauthorization bills.
 

Before joining IBTTA, Neil was the Director of Government Relations for the Highway Users Federation for Safety and Mobility (now the American Highway Users Alliance), a national coalition of highway interests focusing on federal fuel tax policies, alternative fuels, energy exploration, and other issues. From 1975 through 1987, he held positions with the National Asphalt Pavement Association, culminating in his role as Director of Government Relations. In this position, he represented highway contractors and equipment suppliers with primary focus on highway funding, energy, and taxation issues as well as labor relations and disadvantaged business enterprises. In 2001, Neil served as President of the Road Gang, an informal group of business and government executives, highway engineers, consultants, and trade association officials from the highway transportation industry in Washington, D.C. In 2009, the Road Gang presented Neil with the Dan Hanson Award for outstanding service to the organization and industry.

All of us in the tolling and transportation industry will miss Neil in a thousand ways. Neil was one of the most kind, decent, honest, generous, and knowledgeable persons you could ever meet. He was the heart and soul of IBTTA as well as the institutional memory of the association and the tolling industry.” 
 

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About IBTTA

The International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) is the worldwide association for the owners and operators of toll facilities and the businesses that serve tolling. Founded in 1932, IBTTA has members in more than 20 countries on six continents. Through advocacy, thought leadership and education, members are implementing state-of-the-art, innovative user-based transportation financing solutions to address the critical infrastructure challenges of the 21st Century. For more information, please visit www.ibtta.org.