Bundesstraße
One distinguishing characteristic between German "Bundesstraßen" and "Autobahnen" is that there usually is a general 100 km/h (62 mph) speed limit on federal highways out of built-up areas, as opposed to the merely advisory speed limit ("Richtgeschwindigkeit") of 130 km/h (83 mph) in unmarked sections of the autobahns. However, a number of "Bundesstraßen" have been extended as expressways (dual carriageways) (colloquially called "Yellow Autobahns"). Many of these have speed limits of usually 100–120 km/h, others have only an advisory speed limit like autobahns. Most sections of the federal highways are only single carriageway with one lane for each direction and no hard shoulder pull-out area.
Transport in Germany
The Autobahn is the German federal highway system. The official German term is (plural "", abbreviated "BAB"), which translates as "federal motorway". Where no local speed limit is posted, the advisory limit "(Richtgeschwindigkeit)" is 130 km/h. The "Autobahn" network had a total length of about in 2016, which ranks it among the most dense and longest systems in the world. Only federally built controlled-access highways meeting certain construction standards including at least two lanes per direction are called ""Bundesautobahn"". They have their own, blue-coloured signs and their own numbering system. All "Autobahnen" are named by using the capital letter A, followed by a blank and a number (for example A 8).