Method for determining an occupancy status of a parking bay, wherein a vehicle is moved along a street segment with at least one parking bay, wherein the vehicle has a distance sensor aligned laterally to the curbside and a sensor for satellite-based location and time determination, by means of which distance and location data are recorded during movement of the vehicle along the street segment, wherein the distance data of the distance sensor represent the distance from the distance sensor to the next object in the sensor direction, wherein static parking information data on the position of parking bays in the street segment and parking information on each parking bay are on hand, wherein by means of the distance and location data projected distance data arranged along the parking bay are ascertained which each indicate a distance datum of the distance sensor to the next object in the sensor direction at a point on the street of the street segment at the parking bay, wherein by means of the projected distance data of the parking bay a standard distance (d s) is ascertained, wherein a point of a parking bay is determined as unoccupied if the distance datum of this point is greater than the standard distance plus a delta (Δ), wherein an area of a parking bay is determined as one or several vacant parking spaces if the rounded-down quotient of the length of the adjoining contiguous unoccupied points to the length of an average parking space is 1 or greater, characterized in that to ascertain the standard distance (d s) a distance histogram of the projected distance data of the parking bay is used, in that as standard distance (d s) a first maximum of the distance histogram is used which amounts to at least 10% of the highest maximum. wherein a vehicle is moved along a street segment with at least one parking bay, wherein the vehicle has a distance sensor aligned laterally to the curbside and a sensor for satellite-based location and time determination, by means of which distance and location data are recorded during movement of the vehicle along the street segment, wherein the distance data of the distance sensor represent the distance from the distance sensor to the next object in the sensor direction, wherein static parking information data on the position of parking bays in the street segment and parking information on each parking bay are on hand, wherein by means of the distance and location data projected distance data arranged along the parking bay are ascertained which each indicate a distance datum of the distance sensor to the next object in the sensor direction at a point on the street of the street segment at the parking bay, wherein by means of the projected distance data of the parking bay a standard distance (d s) is ascertained, wherein a point of a parking bay is determined as unoccupied if the distance datum of this point is greater than the standard distance plus a delta (Δ), wherein an area of a parking bay is determined as one or several vacant parking spaces if the rounded-down quotient of the length of the adjoining contiguous unoccupied points to the length of an average parking space is 1 or greater, characterized in that to ascertain the standard distance (d s) a distance histogram of the projected distance data of the parking bay is used, in that as standard distance (d s) a first maximum of the distance histogram is used which amounts to at least 10% of the highest maximum.