White House Author

James R. McCarville is the Executive Director of the Port of Pittsburgh Commission (PPC), a Commission of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The PPC consists of volunteers who have donated thousands of hours to promoting the commercial use and development of the inland waterway transportation system. Under Jim’s leadership, the Port of Pittsburgh worked with students from Carnegie Mellon University to develop a computerized virtual system. This “industrial grade” internet introduces greater transparency and efficiency, improving the safety, security and scheduling for towboats, terminals, trains and trucks, and improving the quality of life for people who work the boats, often away from their families for weeks at a time. While the first leg is self-sustaining in Pittsburgh, it is scalable and we expect expandable throughout the nation’s waterways.