Travis Black, Inland Waterways Gateway

Travis Black serves as Director of the Inland Waterways Gateway and Acting Director of the Great Lakes Gateway at the U.S. Maritime Administration. In these roles, he forges partnerships with ports, terminals, vessel operators and federal, state and local agencies to knit maritime transport seamlessly into the national system.

His Inland Waterways Gateway region spans 14 states—stretching from the Columbia–Snake River system inland of Bonneville Dam through the Upper Mississippi, Missouri, Illinois and Kaskaskia rivers—and encompasses over 40 port authorities and 42 river ports. The Great Lakes Gateway, known as the Nation’s Fourth Seacoast, covers eight states and the Saint Lawrence Seaway System, supporting more than 50 commercial ports and vital intermodal corridors into the Mississippi River network.

Whether discussing intermodal connectivity, port infrastructure financing, marine highway development, environmental stewardship, American shipbuilding or maritime emergency preparedness, he focuses on practical, cost-effective solutions that reduce land congestion, advance sustainability and strengthen regional economies.