in determining which of these units or systems, if any, are applica- ble to Ontario, Canada, needs and if so, whether they can replace or supplement the existing manual approach. This required a review of available high-speed data collection technologies, an evaluation of their capabilities, and an experiment to compare the best technologies identified with the manual approach. In addition, it was desirable to streamline the number of distress types collected in the manual approach. The term “automated” in this paper refers to both automated and semiautomated distress surveys. The work plan included a comprehensive literature review, an identification of the most promising technologies, and the design and execution of a field experiment to compare and assess the automated technologies vis-à-vis the manual method. The paper summarizes the design and results of the experiment and includes a set of recommendations for application to network-level usage of automated distress surveys for a DOT. ANALYSIS APPROACH The goal of this study was to determine the applicability of automated pavement distress data collection and processing for a large trans- portation agency by using data from the province of Ontario. As part of this research, a test circuit was designed that consisted of 37 pave- ment sections located in southern Ontario. All four pavement types were examined, including surface treatments, asphalt pavements, con- crete pavements, and composite pavements. Three consultant service providers collected automated distress data over the 37 test sites and a team of MTO pavement evaluators manually evaluated the pave- ments. These data provided a basis for relating manual surveys to automated surveys. The study involves the following main aspects: • To assess data needs required for pavement management. This approach is expected to identify the type of information that the agency is currently collecting manually in the field, how that could be collected with automated equipment, and how the data elements might be loaded into a PMS; • To evaluate the accuracy, repeatability, and consistency of cur- rent pavement condition data collection methods and compare them with available automated data collection technology; and • To recommend the type of technology that should be used for data collection and processing by the MTO. This includes provid- ing detailed procedural guidelines and specifications for both per- forming automated condition surveys and improving the use of the automated pavement distress data collected in the ministry’s PMS. Evaluation of Semiautomated and Automated Pavement Distress Collection for Network-Level Pavement Management Susan L. Tighe, Li Ningyuan, and Tom Kazmierowski 11 The Ministry of Transportation Ontario (MTO) and the University of Waterloo examined the feasibility of using automated pavement distress collection techniques in addition to data collected through manual sur- veys. Test sections including surface-treated, asphalt concrete, compos- ite, and portland cement concrete pavement structures in 37 locations in southern Ontario, Canada, were evaluated. Distress manifestation index (DMI) values were computed for each section by MTO pavement design and evaluation officers using the manual evaluation data collected. DMI values were then computed for each section by using automated distress evaluation data. Before DMI values could be computed, the relevant data had to be extracted and verified, and the distress data had to be cat- egorized. DMI values computed from data collected manually and by using automated systems were compared. Finally, a repeatability analy- sis was performed on both the manual and the automated techniques. Results indicate no significant differences among sensor-based equip- ment; however, there are significant differences among measurements obtained from digital image–based technology. The implications of such outcomes are discussed, including the specifics regarding method- ology implementation in order to encourage practitioners to benefit from the preliminary investigation. Current available techniques can provide MTO with valuable information for pavement management purposes. The automated results are comparable with manual surveys. However, these surveys should be supplemented with manual surveys, especially for design purposes, because some of the pavement distresses were difficult to identify with the automated methods. Pavement management systems (PMSs) rely on consistent and repeat- able distress data collection. Traditionally, such data have been col- lected through manual surveys, which are subjective, tedious, and time consuming. Ideally, the data would be collected at travel or high speed with state-of-the-art image-capture equipment. Considerable research and development have gone into such high-speed data col- lection and analysis, and several units are commercially available around the world (1). The Ministry of Transportation Ontario (MTO), like many provin- cial and state departments of transportation (DOTs), was interested S. L. Tighe, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada. L. Ningyuan and T. Kazmierowski, Materials and Engineering Research Office, Ministry of Transportation Ontario, 1201 Wilson Avenue, Downsview, Ontario, M3M 1J8, Canada. Corresponding author: S. L. Tighe, sltighe@uwaterloo.ca. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2084, Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, Washington, D.C., 2008, pp. 11–17. DOI: 10.3141/2084-02