SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ROAD TRAFFIC CONDITION ESTIMATION

According to one embodiment, a road traffic condition estimation system (1, 1a) includes a storage (22), an inter-vehicle distance estimator (213), a vehicle density estimator (214), and a traffic flow rate estimator (215). The storage (22) stores a speed and inter-vehicle distance table representing a relationship between vehicle speeds and inter-vehicle distances. The inter-vehicle distance estimator (213) acquires a representative value of speeds of vehicles traveling on a given section of a road, and estimates a representative value of inter-vehicle distances on the section on the basis of the representative value of the speeds and the speed and inter-vehicle distance table. The vehicle density estimator (214) estimates a vehicle density on the section on the basis of the estimated representative value of the inter-vehicle distances and a length of the section. The traffic flow rate estimator (215) estimates a traffic flow rate on the section on the basis of the representative value of the speeds and the estimated vehicle density.