Traffic accuracy

[kalikikopa]

Since I find myself looking at the nav all the time, I find myself trying to see how helpful the traffic conditions are. I see yellow or red lines (except Hawaii in rush hour, the whole island is red lines) at different intersections. I'm assuming it's supposed to be traffic , but it can be midnight, with no one else on the road. Are these supposed to be real time or estimates based on collected data over a long period of time?

 

[animorph]

The short red sections I've seen look like stop lights, or maybe just intersections, to me. Data would show cars taking a relatively long time to cover the short distance to the intersection if they had to wait for the green light.