This research study addresses the collection, preparation, and use of traffic data required for pavement design by the Arizona Department of Transportation, focusing on data required as inputs for the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials "Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide" design procedures. ADOT’s current traffic data collection and preparation processes are not adequate to meet the needs of the MEPDG procedure, and improvements are needed. These improvements include enhanced volume, classification, and weight data collection for vehicles, processing data and performing quality assurance checks, and the preparation/analysis of the data for use in the MEPDG. Use of the MEPDG in Arizona will require (1) an annual flow of updated key traffic data and (2) the ability to collect on-site (MEPDG Level 1) data in a timely manner for key projects.

In 2006, the Smoke-Free Arizona Act outlawed smoking within most enclosed public spaces and places of employment primarily to reduce the exposure of individuals to harmful secondhand smoke. The purpose of the Maricopa County Smoke-Free Parks Policy Assessment is three-fold: 1) to evaluate the extent and health impact of tobacco usage in public parks; 2) analyze smoke-free parks policies that have been proposed in cities, counties, and states nationwide; and 3) to assess the feasibility of introducing and implementing similar policies in Arizona, and in Maricopa County in particular.

The Maricopa County Department of Public Health and the Southwest Interdisciplinary Research Center at Arizona State University initiated an evaluation of ASU’s Tobacco-Free Campus policy, which went into effect on August 1, 2013. The purpose of this evaluation is to assess the impacts of this policy on the ASU community and environment. This report summarizes tobacco consumption patterns, norms and perceptions surrounding tobacco use, tobacco litter on campus, and overall benefits of a tobacco-free campus both before and after policy implementation.

RTI International is working on behalf of the Arizona Department of Health Services’ Bureau of Tobacco and Chronic Disease to identify existing tobacco-related data and data needs. RTI interviewed ADHS-BTCD’s partnering organizations by telephone and conducted an environmental scan of existing public use datasets. This report describes the results obtained from the environmental scan and the partner telephone interviews, and it discusses recommendations for addressing the identified data gaps.

In the mid‐1990s, the Arizona Department of Transportation initiated the Maintenance Cost Effectiveness study (SPR 371) with the development of plans and an experiment design to evaluate the effectiveness of a variety of asphalt pavement maintenance treatments. During 1999 and 2001, ADOT oversaw the construction of hundreds of experimental sections throughout the state under the Phase I, Wearing Course Experiment (nine treatments and 82 sections at three sites), and the Phase II, Preventive Maintenance Experiment (24 treatments and 137 sections at four sites). Work continued in 2006 and 2007 under the Evaluation of Maintenance Strategies study (SPR 628) for ADOT with a yearlong program of pavement performance monitoring involving manual pavement distress surveys and automated skid, friction, and surface texture measurements at all the experimental sites. The project culminated with a detailed analysis of key pavement performance data to compare the performance of the individual treatments and determine their overall effectiveness. This report documents the independent findings of both the Phase I and II experiments.

Building upon the work of many others who have contributed to quality of life research in Arizona, this report provides a framework for addressing key issues proactively. The data in Arizona Directions are presented in a highly graphic format with must-read information on our competitiveness, individual action steps, opportunities for public-private partnerships, and public policy options – all rooted in a deep understanding that revenue-neutral options are especially important in our current fiscal situation.

Governor Jan Brewer signed into law the Fiscal 2012 budget that eliminates all child care subsidies in Arizona. While the full impact of that action won’t be felt for weeks and months after the law takes effect July 1, Budget Trax has measured what sharply reduced funding in recent years has meant to working parents, children and businesses, as well as to the potential impact to matching federal funding.

The biggest economic trend in Arizona over the last decade has been the flat line on various measures of prosperity relative to the national average. Arizona always has been below the national average on measures such as the average wage, earnings per employee, and per capita personal income. However, Arizona compares less favorably now than it did in the 1970s and early 1980s.