Abstract: A method for determining the traffic situation is based on traffic data which are obtained from reporting vehicles moving in the traffic, for a traffic network with traffic-controlled network nodes and roadway sections connecting them. Traffic data indicative of travel times on the roadway sections are obtained by reporting vehicles moving in the traffic, and are used to determine travel times on a roadway-section-specific basis. The mean number of vehicles in the queue, the mean number of vehicles, the mean vehicle speed outside the queue, the mean waiting time in the queue and/or the mean vehicle density outside the queue are determined from these travel times for the respective roadway section.

Abstract: In a method for automatically monitoring traffic, traffic data are recorded at several measuring points of the traffic network. The time-dependent positions of the upstream back-up flank and of the downstream back-up flank are estimated continuously according to characteristic relationships which take into account the flow and the density of the traffic in the back-up, the point in time at which the upstream back-up flank passes a respective first measuring point, the point in time at which the downstream back-up flank passes this measuring point as well as the flow and the average vehicle speed at this first as well as at a second measuring point which is situated upstream of the upstream back-up flank.