ASU's Decision Theater and the Pinal Partnership demonstrated a portable, seven-screen decision-support system to Pinal County supervisors on May 14 and outlined a potential multi-phase partnership to build a data-driven regional transportation plan for the county.

Greg (president and CEO of the Pinal Partnership and a former mayor of Casa Grande) and Chelsea (director of strategy and impact for ASU Decision Theater) described the system's ability to integrate many datasets, model scenarios, and support co-developed, human-centered conversations among local governments, utilities and stakeholders. They said ASU would contribute resources and that county and municipal participation and data sharing would be required.

Greg described the proposal and an initial funding request. "I and, Chris Lopez, have asked for $500,000 in an appropriation," Greg said, adding that ASU's Dr. Crowe had offered to contribute resources if the state provided $500,000. Greg said "that would leave now county with, 0" in the immediate plan but also discussed other draft cost splits referenced during the meeting. Another participant in the discussion later referenced a total project number of $1,300,000 with a possible county contribution of $300,000; meeting speakers did not record a formal county commitment.

Chelsea described how the Decision Theater links simultaneous views across screens, lets participants adjust assumptions (theater staff call this a co-development and human-centered design approach), and runs scenarios showing impacts on transportation, economy, housing and other systems. She presented examples from projects in Hawaii and a legacy Arizona planning tool called "AZ Smart," including a demonstration that allowed users to draw a polygon for a proposed solar facility and view live transmission-grid connection data and environmental overlays.

Seats on the board and county staff asked practical questions about participation, data ownership and cost. County staff noted that many municipal data layers already flow into the county GIS system and emphasized that any transportation tool would need municipal cooperation and county-hosted data. Several supervisors, including Supervisor Friend, expressed support for pursuing the project and noted potential long-term benefits. Supervisor Friend said the tool could help avoid the cost and delay of contracting an outside vendor and described the demonstration as "a valuable tool."

Presenters described the project as modular and iterative: an initial phase would build a base framework and later phases would add more datasets, predictive analytics and additional scenario-testing capability. They emphasized that the tool is designed for collaborative decision making rather than to prescribe a single outcome.

No formal board vote or funding appropriation occurred at the meeting. Presenters requested that county leaders consider participating, sharing GIS and municipal plan data, and supporting the pursuit of a state appropriation and a formal partnership to develop a Pinal County regional transportation and infrastructure planning capability.