Owensboro native J. Todd Inman will be sworn onto the National Transportation Safety Board this Wednesday in Washington, D.C., making this his second national-level position. He said his experience in Owensboro continues to provide him with a unique perspective as he holds office at the federal level.
Inman was born in Calvert City but lived in Owensboro from 2000 to 2017, when he served as a State Farm Insurance Agent.
This won’t be Inman’s first high-level transportation position. He most recently served as the Chief of Staff and Deputy Chief of Staff at the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) during former President Donald Trump’s term.
Inman first expressed interest in the NTSB in 2020 after gaining experience with the DOT and overseeing the rules and regulations of the nation’s transportation system. In July 2023, President Joe Biden nominated Inman for the Republican seat on the board.
The NTSB is a nonpartisan, independent federal agency charged by Congress with investigating every civil aviation accident in the United States and significant events in the other modes of transportation — railroad, transit, highway, marine, pipeline, and commercial space.
“It’s a great honor to join the Board. You have to remember you have to wear the responsibilities that the U.S. Senate has given you and those that nominated you, so I hope to live up to that,” Inman said.
He was initially interested in the position to focus on and advocate for emerging new technologies that impact transportation.
“When I was at the Department of Transportation, we saw a lot of new entrants. Everything from Hyperloop to Air Mobility and air taxis, all of those things are starting to come to fruition. The rules for safety and the recommendations have not even been contemplated yet. So how do you try to get ahead and make things safe before they’re actually truly implemented into the total public,” Inman said.
With this focus on emerging technology, he said looking at how autonomous vehicles develop will be his focus as they continue to become more prevalent.
Inman said a lot of the development comes from increasing a car’s programming and data capacities. As the capacity grows though, Inman noted it leaves more room for automation to make decisions.
“What that does is add a whole new frontier of what is the ultimate way of discerning what is the best safest practice,” Inman said.
His outlook on the safety of autonomous vehicles is also informed by his experience as a board member for Wendell Foster in Owensboro. During his tenure, the nonprofit was researching purchasing more vehicles and how transportation could effectively help people with disabilities.
Inman said he sees a future where autonomous vehicles can benefit people with disabilities.
“I was there when we really upgraded our transportation fleet to be able to move more people around, because movement means freedom. Anyone can recognize a driver’s license and consider it somewhat a freedom. For someone with a disability, autonomous vehicles have the opportunity to unlock a whole new freedom for them,” Inman said.
When it comes to aviation, he said his passion for air safety began after then-Mayor Waymond Morris appointed him to the Owensboro-Daviess County Regional Airport board. Seeing how an airport operates locally, he said, still informs how he looks at things at a higher level.
“I’m very lucky that I’ve experienced the rulemaking on a federal level, on the state level while serving as a Secretary of Management Services for Florida, and obviously I’ve had local experience. So I’m hoping to bring up a really diverse background into the role and be able to use that to help expand the advocacy of the NTSB mission,” Inman said.
Inman will be sworn in on Wednesday and will serve a 5-year term.
