Alireza Abrishamkar - PhD Candidate, School of Civil Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran
Xin Yu - PhD, KPMG LLP, ۱۶۰۱ Market Street, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Panos D. Prevedouros - Professor, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, HI, USA

Data is an indispensable component of any type of transportation study. Transportation studies and their applications are vast, and require vast types of data. Data type influences the data collection techniques. These techniques are generally categorized in three groups, namely, manual, semi-automated, and fully-automated. Even though by advancements of technology some manual techniques are replaced by more automated methods, many types of data are still either uneconomical or impossible to be collected without human interference. However, manual methods still need to be improved so as to minimize issues and inaccuracies. Manual license plate data collection, and manual volume/classification data collection are two methods which are still widely in use. These methods – specially the former – require practical considerations, some of which dependent on the location of implementation. If these considerations are not taken into account in practice, negative consequences in terms of safety, accuracy and overall effectiveness may be entailed. Experiences of other nation’s in this regard can be valuable to develop better practices. China and Hawaii have good practices and worthy lessons to learn. Safety-related considerations associated with vehicle-class and weather in general, and effectiveness-related issues associated with format ofrecordation should be taken into account for practices in Iran.

Manual, Semi-Automated, Data Collection, China, Hawaii