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Arizona

The Rural Context For Transportation Consultations

Arizona is the 6th largest state in the U.S. in land area, 21st largest in population, and 36th most densely populated. Approximately 30 percent of Arizona's population and jobs, and 99 percent of the land, is non-urban. About 89 percent of its roads are rural. Federally owned lands are a significant factor; they amount to 45 percent of the state's land area.

Arizona is a significantly growing state, as measured by population, with a slowly growing rate of employment. The proportion of the state's jobs that are in the uniquely rural agriculture and mining sectors is small (5 and 2 percent, respectively). Most jobs in Arizona's rural areas are in sectors also common in urban areas: construction, transportation & utilities (16 percent); manufacturing (10 percent); business & trade (27 percent); and services and government (41 percent).

Demographically, Arizona's non-urban population is predominately white and Native American (75 and 15 percent, respectively). Twenty-four percent are Hispanic. The proportion of Arizona's non-urban adult population that did not graduate from high school ranks near the middle (19th highest) when compared to other states, and the proportion that did graduate from college is higher (15th highest) than most other states. The 20 percent of Arizona's non-urban population who are poor is among the highest of all states. About 44 percent of the state's non-urban population is in non-working age groups (30 percent 18 years or younger, and 14 percent 65 years or older). Governmentally, Arizona has 15 counties, a fairly manageable number compared to many other states. The state also has 87 cities and towns, but no townships. It has the 5th lowest number of sub-county governments. Arizona also has 21 federally recognized Indian Tribes.

In addition, the 1997 U.S. Census of Governments has identified 3 independent, special-purpose governments in Arizona that have transportation responsibilities. This number is lower than in most other states. These special types of local governments include two for highways and one for transit. Arizona also has 12 other public transit providers serving rural areas and an additional 81 organizations that provide specialized transit services to elderly and disabled populations in those same areas.

Arizona has 4 regional councils that cover approximately 100 percent of the state, and 2 MPO's and 2 TMA's. These regional units help to coordinate the other local governments and play a role in rural transportation programs as described below.

Of Arizona's 55,969 miles of roads, approximately 11 percent are state-controlled, while 26 percent are federal. Of the total miles of non-federal rural roads, 23 percent are state, 69 percent are county, none are township, and 8 percent are municipal and other.

Processes For Consultation And Cooperation With Local Officials In Non-Metropolitan Areas

The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) is responsible for transportation planning, and programming, and for constructing, operating and maintaining the state system of transportation. Arizona has four Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) including 2 TMA's, four rural Council of Governments (COGs), ten ADOT Engineering Districts, and six transportation board districts. ADOT allocates state funds to the COGs annually to fund development of Transportation Improvement Programs (TIPs), data collection, and other transportation planning duties. For rural transportation planning, COGs serve as liaison between local governments and ADOT. The engineering districts identify state highway needs, construct, operate and maintain transportation facilities within their district. The State Transportation Board has statutory authority for prioritizing state airport and highway projects.

The Priority Programming Processes (PPP) for the state and local systems are the two major programming processes for transportation investments in Arizona. The outcomes of these processes are the 5-Year Transportation Facilities Construction Program for the overall state system and the Sate Transportation Improvement Program (STIP). The STIP is essentially the federally funded projects covering the first three years of the 5-year plan. ADOT uses interdisciplinary and multimodal approaches that include bicycle, pedestrian, transit, rail, and aviation components.

The COGs work with local governments to develop regional TIPs. These TIPs include projects from all funding sources. They are multidisciplinary, multijurisdictional and take into account economic development and environmental concerns. COGs work with the ADOT district engineers and COG Technical Advisory Committees to establish project priorities for the state system. Local agency highway projects are selected through a cooperative process involving cities, counties, and Indian Tribes. Local elected officials participate in the rural transportation planning process through the COGs. These officials often are members of the COG transportation committee that identifies and approves projects before forwarding them to the ADOT district engineer. Staff members or local officials from developing portions of MPOs may be consulted on transportation issues related to rural concerns.

The ADOT district engineers play a key role in developing the 5-year Highway Construction Improvement Program Plan. They attend monthly city and county government meetings and interact with individual supervisors and mayors. They identify candidate projects in coordination with the MPOs and COGs ensuring that local and regional needs are recognized. Through "area meetings," ADOT attempts to consult with all local governments, Indian Tribes, the public, and any other stakeholders in the selection of projects.

Other opportunities for input are also provided. A series of public hearings are held throughout the state. These hearings are held at all agency levels (COGs, MPOs, and ADOT) in the form of statewide meetings, transportation technical advisory committee meetings, State transportation board meetings, open house/public hearings, and other forums. At these meetings, the draft 5-year Program is presented and the public has an opportunity to provide input. Additionally, ADOT compiles the 3-Year STIP in cooperation with all federal agencies, rural COGs and MPOs.

ADOT also coordinates the preparation of the Transit Development Programs (TDPs) with each of the TIPs developed by the COGs, Indian Tribal Governments, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and National Park Service. These TDPs include an assessment of local transit needs within a 5-year "horizon," and achievable coordination and consolidation opportunities within their respective areas. To assist with development of the overall State Plan and subsequent short-range plan, ad hoc technical advisory committees were established in each of the four rural planning areas of the state. These committees provide ADOT additional opportunities to network with social service agencies that provide human services programs with transportation-related components. ADOT is responsible for overall administration of the Rural Public Transit Program (Section 5311 Program), and the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities Transportation Program (Section 5310 Program), which provide financial and technical assistance to rural passenger transportation programs throughout the state for planning, management, and operations.

Other participatory planning activities conducted by ADOT include: (1) facilitated "gathering" meetings, with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Federal Transit Administration (FTA), MPOs/COGs, transit representatives, and local elected officials, to discuss multimodal transportation and air quality/conformity issues; (2) biannual meetings with representatives of the federal land management agencies and ADOT to consult and coordinate projects for inclusion in the 5-Year Transportation Facilities Construction Program; (3) quarterly planning meetings with MPO and COG planners; and (4) planning efforts involving regional, tribal and local governments for the long-range plan, area plans and corridor plans.

Rural transportation in Arizona is funded through federal funds, state (including lottery) funds, local option excise taxes (which few counties have enacted), and other funding sources. Some funds are allocated based on population; other funds are distributed competitively. These funds support transportation project planning and programming, construction, maintenance, and operations activities of the state transportation agencies, local public bodies, Indian Tribes, transit operators, and non-profit organizations.

Arizona uses these practices:

State Consultation Tours: A series of area meetings are held throughout the state to consult with all local governments, Indian Tribes, the public, and other stakeholders.
State Hearings: Hearings are held in the form of statewide meetings, Transportation Technical Advisory Committee meetings, open house/public hearings, and others.
State Processes for Interactive Exchanges of Views With Local Officials: ADOT holds quarterly planning meetings with COG planners.
Roles of RPOs: COGs act as RPOs for transportation planning.
State Policy-Making and Advisory Bodies: State Transportation Board.
Other Practices: ADOT district engineers attend monthly city and county government meetings and interact with supervisors and mayors.

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