A method for providing an improvement in speed estimation for route planning involves identifying a plurality of observed speeds for a segment of road during a first time period, the plurality of observed speeds corresponding to the plurality of traces of the segment of road. The method further involves identifying a plurality of discrete values in the plurality of observed speeds, and determining a count for each of the plurality of discrete values. The method further involves aggregating the counts for the plurality of traces including the segment to create aggregated counts for the segment, and determining the speed estimate from the aggregated counts for the plurality of traces including the segment.